Salvage therapy of advanced Hodgkin's disease. Critical appraisal of curative potential.

The therapeutic outcome in patients with advanced Hodgkin's disease has improved considerably since the advent of MOPP chemotherapy (mechlorethamine, vincristine, procarbazine, and prednisone) and MOPP-like regimens. Still, failure will eventually occur in approximately 50 percent of these patients. The optimal approach to treating these patients is not well established. Currently, the six major salvage approaches available are: (1) chemotherapy reinduction with the same initial regimen: (2) chemotherapy with ABVD (doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine); (3) non-ABVD second-line regimens; (4) third-line chemotherapy regimens; (5) wide-field radiation therapy alone or combined with second-line chemotherapy; and (6) autologous and allogeneic bone marrow transplantation. This review provides a critical evaluation of the curative potential of each therapeutic modality and outlines recommendations for the best current therapeutic approach and for future clinical study.