Stage I and II Hodgkin's disease in the pediatric population. Long-term follow-up of patients staged predominantly clinically.

Between January 1, 1970, and December 31, 1990, 42 consecutive pediatric patients were treated at the Medical College of Wisconsin Affiliated Hospitals for early-stage Hodgkin's disease. Thirty patients were clinically staged. Twelve underwent staging laparotomy as a part of staging work-up. Thirty-one patients were treated with radiation therapy (RT) alone. Eleven were treated with combined chemotherapy and RT. For the entire group, overall survival at 5, 10, and 15 years was 98, 98, and 92%, respectively. Disease-free survival was 86, 86, and 79, respectively. There was no significant difference in overall survival or disease-free survival comparing clinically versus pathologically staged patients. There was a trend toward improved disease-free survival favoring pathologically staged patients; however, this difference did not reach statistical significance (p = 0.07). The long-term results of this series fail to show statistically significant superior disease-free or overall survival with surgical staging.