title: Late Relapse in Hodgkin's Disease: Report of Five Cases and a Review of the Literature.
abstract: During the past 15 years the treatment of Hodgkin's disease (HD) with chemo/radiotherapy has been shown to appreciably improve the long-term prognosis of patients, even those with more advanced disease. In the past it was accepted that the probability of primary relapse 5 years after achieving complete remission (CR) was small and a 5-year disease-free period was sufficient to be considered as a cure. During the past 15 years, however, more data has been published relating to late relapses in these patients after an initial "cure" has been achieved. This report briefly examines our own experience with five patients initially "cured" who relapsed 5 to 11 years after achieving CR and also reviews recent literature on the subject. The phenomenon of late relapse has thus become a more important issue in the management of patients with HD.
authors.affiliation: b Internal Medicine A, Hadassah University Hospital and Hebrew University Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ilan
authors.affiliation: a Lymphoma Leukemia Unit, Departments of Hematology, Hadassah University Hospital and Hebrew University Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ruchlemer
authors.affiliation: d Hematology Service, Barzilai Hospital, Ashkelon.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lugassy
authors.affiliation: c Oncology, Hadassah University Hospital and Hebrew University Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Uzielly
authors.affiliation: e Section of Hematology/Oncology, University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
authors.forename: S F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.affiliation: e Section of Hematology/Oncology, University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
authors.forename: H M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Golomb
authors.affiliation: a Lymphoma Leukemia Unit, Departments of Hematology, Hadassah University Hospital and Hebrew University Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Polliack
keywords: Hodgkin's lymphoma; Late relapse