[Retrospective analysis of 157 patients with pediatric Hodgkin lymphoma in Japan: investigation by four pediatric cancer study groups].

Hodgkin lymphoma is an easily curable malignancy in the pediatric age group and is less frequently observed in Japan. No study with a large sample size of Japanese patients has been conducted. From 1985 to 2000, 157 Japanese patients with Hodgkin lymphoma were retrospectively analyzed based on their clinical characteristics, treatment regimen, and treatment outcome by 4 pediatiric cancer study groups. There were 107 male and 50 female patients with a median age of 10 years 1 month (range: 1 year 8 months to 17 years 8 months). Clinical stage I lymphoma was observed in 37 patients, stage II in 62, stage III in 40, and stage IV in 18. Fifty patients presented with B symptoms (32%). Most patients (n=125, 82%) received more than 6 courses of combination chemotherapy mainly comprising cyclophosphamide, vincristine, procarbazine, prednisolone (COPP), doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine (ABVD). The 5-year overall and event-free survival rates were 81.5% and 94.8%, respectively. High-risk disease and age (>10 years) were considered to be poor prognostic factors.