Results of little or no treatment for lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin disease in children and adolescents.

PURPOSE: The nodular lymphocyte-predominant form of Hodgkin disease (LPHD) is a distinct clinicopathologic entity with a favorable prognosis. To see if children and adolescents could be spared the adverse sequelae of treatment, the authors adopted a policy of little or no treatment of localized LPHD in 1989. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Presentation, pathology, and outcomes were reviewed for 15 consecutive children and adolescents with LPHD seen at a single institution since 1989. One patient was lost to follow-up and two patients were seen only once in consultation and treated elsewhere. These three cases were excluded, leaving twelve: nine males and three females, ranging in age at diagnosis from 2 to 17 years (median 11). Eleven of the 12 had stage I disease, and 1 had stage II. Six received no treatment following excisional biopsy, while five received a brief treatment with chemotherapy only. One was initially treated with involved field radiotherapy (IFRT) due to an initially imprecise histologic diagnosis of classic Hodgkin disease.
RESULTS: All patients are alive, without evidence of disease, for periods ranging from 2 to 13+ years after diagnosis (median 6 years). One patient recurred locally with LPHD 6 years after initial brief chemotherapy and was then treated with IFRT, achieving a prolonged second remission.
CONCLUSION: Children and adolescents with localized LPHD have an excellent prognosis and may be safely approached either with a wait-and-see attitude of no initial therapy after initial adenectomy or with less aggressive treatments.