Major complications and causes of death in patients treated for Hodgkin's disease.

A total of 340 patients with Hodgkin's disease were evaluated for the occurrence of intercurrent fatalities after treatment with radiotherapy, chemotherapy, combined modality therapy, and salvage chemotherapy. Mean follow-up time was 76.6 months. Causes of death were compared with the expected risk, calculated from mortality statistics of the Netherlands' population. Sixty-seven patients died of progressive Hodgkin's disease, whereas 37 patients died of causes unrelated to advanced disease. Patients showed an increased risk of dying of leukemia and solid tumors (P less than .001), whereas the risk of dying of cardiovascular complications was not increased. The 10-year actuarial risk of dying of leukemia varied between 0% for patients treated with radiotherapy only and 5.7% for those needing salvage chemotherapy. The 10-year risk of dying of solid tumors was 0% for patients treated with chemotherapy and 6.5% for those receiving radiotherapy. Treatment-related fatalities were highest after combined modality therapy (P less than .025); the corresponding 10-year risk was 6.1%. Compared with younger ones, patients greater than or equal to 40 years had an increased risk of dying of causes unrelated to progressive Hodgkin's diseases. The actuarial risk of developing intercurrent fatalities at 10 years was 4.9% in patients less than 40 years, and 34.7% in those greater than or equal to 40 years (P less than .001). Compared with population based statistics, patients successfully treated for Hodgkin's disease still showed an increased risk of dying (P less than .001). Treatment modality, stage, and histologic subtype were not predictors of intercurrent death.