Comparison of initial characteristics and long-term outcome of patients with lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin lymphoma and classical Hodgkin lymphoma at clinical stages IA and IIA prospectively treated by brief anthracycline-based chemotherapies plus extended high-dose irradiation.

Lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin lymphoma (LPHL), according to the Revised European-American Lymphoma classification, was considered on a retrospective basis as a specific clinical entity with a large majority of patients at clinical stage (CS) IA or IIA. Of the 500 patients with CS IA/IIA Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) prospectively treated between 1981 and 1996 by one or 3 courses of anthracycline-based chemotherapies combined with high-dose extended irradiation, disease in 42 patients was reclassified as LPHL. These 42 patients, none of whom had mediastinal involvement (MI), were compared with the 458 patients with classical HL (cHL), 144 without MI and 314 with MI. Surprisingly, the male-female ratio, age, first site involved, hemoglobin level, lymphocyte count, and sedimentation rate of patients with LPHL and cHL without MI were identical and significantly different from those of patients with cHL with MI. Moreover, 15-year HL mortality rates were similarly low in patients with LPHL (2.4%) and cHL without MI (0.7%). Overall survival rates were also similar (86% and 82%) and as high as 100% and 95% in patients treated before the age of 40 years. This study demonstrated that LPHL and cHL without MI shared the same presenting characteristics and the same excellent long-term prognosis after a brief anthracycline-based chemotherapy plus high-dose extended irradiation.