VAMP and low-dose, involved-field radiation for children and adolescents with favorable, early-stage Hodgkin's disease: results of a prospective clinical trial

Final results of a prospective clinical trial with VAMP and low-dose involved-field radiation for children with low-risk Hodgkin's disease

PURPOSE

To evaluate outcome and assess complications in children and adolescents with low-risk Hodgkin's disease treated with vinblastine, doxorubicin, methotrexate, and prednisone (VAMP) chemotherapy and low-dose, involved-field radiation therapy (IFRT).

PATIENTS AND METHODS

One hundred ten children with low-risk Hodgkin's disease were treated with four cycles of VAMP and 15 Gy IFRT for those who achieved a complete response (CR) or 25.5 Gy for those with a partial response after two cycles of VAMP.

RESULTS

With median follow-up of 9.6 years (range, 1.7 to 15.0), 5- and 10-year overall survival were 99.1% and 96.1%, respectively, and 5-and 10-year event-free survival (EFS) were 92.7% and 89.4%. Factors contributing to 10-year EFS were: early CR (P = .02), absence of B symptoms (P = .01), lymphocyte predominant histologic subtype (P = .04), and less than three initial sites of disease (P = .02). Organ toxicity has been limited to correctable hypothyroidism in 42% of irradiated patients, and one case of cardiac dysfunction. Seventeen healthy babies have been born to 106 survivors. There have been two malignant tumors: one thyroid cancer within the radiation therapy field and one Ewing's sarcoma outside the radiation therapy field.

CONCLUSION

Risk-adapted, combined-modality therapy using VAMP chemotherapy with radiation is effective and well tolerated. Pediatric patients with low-risk Hodgkin's disease can be cured with therapy without an alkylating agent, bleomycin, etoposide, or high-dose, extended-field radiotherapy. Thus, these children are expected to retain normal fertility, organ function, and be at low risk of a second malignant tumor.

Survival and late effects in children with Hodgkin's lymphoma treated with MOPP/ABV and low-dose, extended-field irradiation

PURPOSE

Reduced-intensity protocols for pediatric Hodgkin's lymphoma are aimed at preserving excellent relapse-free survival while decreasing the incidence of late effects.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

We retrospectively reviewed the outcome of 123 children treated consecutively for Hodgkin's lymphoma at a single institution. Patients with stages I-IIIB disease received three cycles of mechlorethamine, vincristine, procarbazine, and prednisone (MOPP)/ doxorubicin, bleomycin, and vinblastine (ABV) followed by 15 Gy of extended-field irradiation, while those with stage IV disease were treated with six to eight cycles of MOPP/ABV chemotherapy with or without radiotherapy.

RESULTS

At a median follow-up of 8.5 years (range, 1.4 to 15.5 years), the estimated 10-year overall survival and event-free survival are 94% (SE, 2.2%) and 88% (SE, 3.1%) respectively. There have been 12 treatment failures and six disease-related deaths. A very large mediastinal mass ( 50% of the maximal thoracic diameter) was associated with a 10-year event-free survival of 50% (SE, 14%) compared with 91% (SE, 4.0%) for smaller masses (P < .001). Late cardiopulmonary toxicity is largely absent, and the incidence of hypothyroidism is 14%. There have been no cases of secondary leukemia and four secondary solid malignancies observed to date.

CONCLUSION

MOPP/ABV and low-dose, extended-field radiotherapy is an effective treatment for pediatric Hodgkin's lymphoma. With median follow-up of 8.5 years, late cardiopulmonary effects and secondary malignancies from this treatment regimen are infrequent. Continued longitudinal observations, particularly for breast cancer in female patients and gonadotoxicity, will determine whether the goal of decreasing treatment-related complications while maintaining excellent survival has been achieved.

POG 8625: a randomized trial comparing chemotherapy with chemoradiotherapy for children and adolescents with Stages I, IIA, IIIA1 Hodgkin Disease: a report from the Children's Oncology Group

To determine if 6 courses of chemotherapy alone could achieve the same or better outcome than 4 courses of chemotherapy followed by radiation therapy (chemoradiotherapy) in pediatric and adolescent patients with Hodgkin disease. Children < or =21 years old with biopsy-proven, pathologically staged I, IIA, or IIIA1 Hodgkin disease were randomly assigned 6 courses of alternating nitrogen mustard, oncovin, prednisone, and procarbazine/doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine (treatment 1) or 4 courses of alternating nitrogen mustard, oncovin, prednisone, and procarbazine/doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine +2550 cGy involved-field radiotherapy (treatment 2). The complete response rate was 89%, with a complete response and partial response rate of 99.4%. There was no statistically significant difference in event-free survival (EFS) or overall survival between arms. The EFS for those who achieved an early complete response was significantly higher than for those who did not. For pediatric patients with asymptomatic low-stage and intermediate-stage Hodgkin disease, chemotherapy and chemoradiotherapy both resulted in 3-year EFS of approximately 90% and statistically indistinguishable 8-year EFS and overall survival, without significant long-term toxicity. Early response to therapy was associated with higher EFS, a concept that has led to the Children's Oncology Group paradigm of response-based risk-adapted therapy for pediatric Hodgkin disease.

White race as a risk factor for hypothyroidism after treatment for pediatric Hodgkin's lymphoma

PURPOSE

Hypothyroidism frequently occurs after treatment for pediatric Hodgkin's lymphoma, but race has not been investigated as a risk factor for this delayed toxicity. The aim of this study was to determine whether race is an independent risk factor for hypothyroidism in survivors of pediatric Hodgkin's lymphoma.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

To identify differences between black and white patients in the development of hypothyroidism after treatment for Hodgkin's lymphoma, we conducted a retrospective study of consecutively treated pediatric patients with newly diagnosed Hodgkin's lymphoma treated at St Jude Children's Research Hospital (Memphis, TN) from January 1980 through December 2002. Clinical or biochemical hypothyroidism was defined by an above normal thyroxine-stimulating hormone concentration or by the need for thyroid hormone replacement therapy.

RESULTS

The 461 patients (388 white patients, 73 black patients) where followed for a median of 11.3 years (range, 1.8 to 24.9 years). Hypothyroidism developed in 196 (43%) of 461 patients after a median of 2.9 years (range, 0.7 to 11.3 years) after diagnosis of Hodgkin's lymphoma. Hypothyroidism developed in 47% of white patients but in only 21% of black patients (hazard ratio = 2.7; 95% CI, 1.6 to 4.6). After adjusting for other risk factors for hypothyroidism (thyroid radiation dose, sex, and nodular sclerosis histology), the risk of hypothyroidism in white patients was 2.5 times (95% CI, 1.5 to 4.3 times) the risk in black patients (P < .001).

CONCLUSION

White patients have a higher risk of hypothyroidism after neck irradiation for pediatric Hodgkin's lymphoma than black patients.

Comparison of 18F-FDG-PET and standard procedures for the pretreatment staging of children and adolescents with Hodgkin's disease

PURPOSE

The aim of this study was to perform a prospective, blinded comparison of( 18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) and conventional staging methods (CSMs) for initial staging of children and adolescents with Hodgkin's disease (HD).

METHODS

Over a period of 4 years, 55 children and adolescents with HD (mean age 15.5 years, range 3.9-18.9 years) were prospectively recruited into the study. They underwent 61 FDG-PET studies using a dedicated whole-body PET scanner as a part of their initial staging work-up. PET findings were correlated with the results of CSMs, including computed tomography (CT), ultrasound, bone scanning and bone marrow examination. Discordant findings were resolved by magnetic resonance imaging or clinical follow-up (range 2-47 months).

RESULTS

PET correctly changed the staging in 15% of patients (seven upstagings, two downstagings). Only two out of 61 patients (3%) were not accurately staged by PET; in these children, PET missed small lymphoma nodules detected on lung CT. The sensitivity of PET and CSMs for pretreatment staging was 96.5% and 87.5%, respectively; specificity was 100% and 60%, and accuracy, 96.7% and 85.2%, respectively. Upon combination of FDG-PET and lung CT, the diagnostic accuracy reached 100% in our series.

CONCLUSION

Our study showed that whole-body FDG-PET is an efficient and useful method for the initial staging of children with HD. FDG-PET in combination with lung CT should be recommended as a screening method prior to other conventional imaging modalities to plan a rational staging protocol. Large multicentre prospective studies are necessary to verify this conclusion.

Patterns of Treatment Failure in Pediatric and Young Adult Patients With Hodgkin's Disease: Local Disease Control With Combined-Modality Therapy

Purpose

Refinement in managing pediatric Hodgkin's disease (HD) requires understanding of factors associated with local treatment failure. This study defines the cumulative incidence (CI) of local failure (LF) and prognostic factors for pediatric patients treated for HD with combined-modality therapy (CMT).

Patients and Methods

We enrolled 195 patients onto two prospective studies at St Jude Children's Research Hospital between 1990 and 2000. Patients received CMT with chemotherapy (vinblastine, doxorubicin, methotrexate, and prednisone [VAMP]; vinblastine, etoposide, prednisone, and doxorubicin; or VAMP/cyclophosphamide, vincristine, and procarbazine) and involved-field radiation therapy delivered to initial site(s) of disease on the basis of early response. Sites of disease involvement, treatment, and sites of failure were confirmed from the patients' medical record, imaging, and radiotherapy treatment records. We estimated the overall survival, event-free survival, and CI of LF.

Results

With a median follow-up of 7.6 years, the CI of LF was 10.9% and 11.6% at 5 and 10 years, respectively. Twenty-seven (14%) of 195 patients experienced recurrence of HD, and 22 (81%) of those experienced LF. Bulky mediastinal disease greater than one third transthoracic diameter predicted a higher incidence of LF, but did not predict failure in the mediastinum. Male sex, low initial hemoglobin, and bulky mediastinal disease were prognostic indicators of LF. Attenuation of radiation dose to 15 Gy based on response provides excellent infield control.

Conclusion

CMT provides excellent local disease control in children and young adults with HD. LF remains a primary site of disease recurrence, with male sex, low initial hemoglobin, and bulky mediastinal disease predicting for LF.

Special issues in pediatric Hodgkin's disease

Childhood Hodgkin's disease (HD) is not a biologically unique disease; it differs from adult HD primarily in the relative incidence of disease histology. Preadolescent children are more likely to have Mixed Cellularity and nodular lymphocyte predominant HD. Adolescent and young adult HD is indistinguishable, with a predominance of nodular sclerosing (NS) HD. Nonetheless, treatment paradigms have diverged over the years as pediatric oncologists responded first to developmental issues in the young child, and later to the long-term treatment consequences in all young survivors. The latter concerns are of equal relevance to the young adult with HD. The increasing convergence of treatment approaches in the past decade is therefore most appropriate. Reproductive potential, risk of secondary malignancy and cardiopulmonary consequences of therapy have driven the pediatric treatment paradigm of care. Chemotherapy with low dose, limited field radiation is standard, with low-stage patients often treated by chemotherapy alone. Algorithms tailor therapy to response. The prognostic importance of very early chemotherapy response rather than end-of-chemotherapy response has led the Children's Oncology Group to use early response (after 6 wk) to titrate individual therapy and dense regimens to maximize the early response rates. Although the dose dense regimens of adult groups are similar, the pediatric algorithms emphasize using the enhanced efficacy to limit cumulative therapy. This review intends to address the special issues of childhood HD, with the intent of further encouraging understanding that will foster convergence of pediatric and adult treatment paradigms.

Risk-adapted, combined-modality therapy with VAMP/COP and response-based, involved-field radiation for unfavorable pediatric Hodgkin's disease

PURPOSE

To evaluate the efficacy of vinblastine, doxorubicin, methotrexate, and prednisone (VAMP) and cyclophosphamide, vincristine, and procarbazine (COP) chemotherapy and response-based, involved-field radiation, a combined-modality regimen that limits doses of alkylating agents, anthracyclines, and radiation, in children with advanced and unfavorable Hodgkin's disease.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

From 1993 to 2000, 159 children and adolescents with unfavorable Hodgkin's disease received three alternating cycles (total of six cycles) of VAMP/COP chemotherapy followed by response-based, involved-field radiation therapy: 15 Gy was administered to patients achieving a complete response, and 25.5 Gy was administered to those achieving a partial response after the first two cycles of chemotherapy and to all sites of bulky lymphadenopathy. Unfavorable disease was defined as clinical stage I and II with bulky peripheral nodal disease greater than 6 cm, initial bulky mediastinal mass 33% or more of the intrathoracic diameter, and/or "B" symptoms and all stage III and IV.

RESULTS

Study enrollment was closed after an interim analysis estimated a 5-year event-free survival (EFS) rate below a predefined level. Disease presentation was localized (stage I/II) in 77 patients (48.4%) and advanced (stage III/IV) in 82 patients (51.6%). At a median follow-up of 5.8 years (range, 1.3 to 10.0 years), 38 patients had events, including relapse/progression (n = 35), second malignancy (n = 2), and accidental death (n = 1); nine relapses (25.7%) occurred greater than 4 years from diagnosis. Five-year survival and EFS estimates are 92.7% +/- 2.5% and 75.6% +/- 4.1%, respectively.

CONCLUSION

Risk-adapted combined-modality therapy with VAMP/COP and response-based, involved-field radiation therapy results in an unsatisfactory outcome for pediatric patients with unfavorable presentations of Hodgkin's disease.

High-dose therapy and autologous hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation for recurrent or refractory pediatric Hodgkin's disease: results and prognostic indices

PURPOSE

To evaluate the outcome of pediatric patients with refractory or relapsed Hodgkin's disease (HD) who undergo high-dose therapy and autologous hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (AHSCT).

PATIENTS AND METHODS

From 1989 to 2001, 41 pediatric patients with relapsed or primary refractory HD underwent high-dose therapy followed by AHSCT according to one of four autologous transplantation protocols at Stanford University Medical Center (Stanford, CA). Pretreatment factors were analyzed by univariate and multivariate analysis for prognostic significance for 5-year overall survival (OS), event-free survival (EFS), and progression-free survival (PFS).

RESULTS

At a median follow-up of 4.2 years (range, 0.7 to 11.9 years), the 5-year OS, EFS, and PFS rates were 68%, 53%, and 63%, respectively. Multivariate analysis determined the following three factors to be significant predictors of poor OS and EFS: extranodal disease at first relapse, presence of mediastinal mass at time of AHSCT, and primary induction failure. Two of these factors also predicted for poor PFS (extranodal disease at time of first relapse and presence of mediastinal mass at time of transplantation).

CONCLUSION

More than half of children with relapsed or refractory HD can be successfully treated with the combination of high-dose therapy and AHSCT, confirming the efficacy of this approach. Further investigation is now required to determine the optimal timing of AHSCT, as well as to develop alternative regimens for those patients with factors prognostic for poor outcome after AHSCT.

Treatment of pediatric Hodgkin disease avoiding radiotherapy: excellent outcome with the Rotterdam-HD-84-protocol

BACKGROUND

To reduce radiotherapy (XRT) induced toxicity of treatment of children with Hodgkin disease (HD) while maintaining a high cure rate, we introduced a risk-adapted protocol consisting of chemotherapy (CT) alone in 1984.

PROCEDURE

The outcome of 46 children treated for HD from 1984 until 2000 according to the Rotterdam-HD-84-protocol was determined. Children with stage I-IIA disease (n = 23), were treated with six courses of epirubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine (EBVD). Children with stage IIB-IV disease (n = 23), were treated with three to five alternating cycles of EBVD and mechlorethamine, vincristine, procarbazine, and prednisone (MOPP).

RESULTS

At a median follow-up time of 8.6 years (range 2.6-18.3 years), the 10-year overall survival (OS) is 95% and the event-free survival (EFS) 91%. In 5/46 patients XRT was administered because of residual mediastinal mass. Four children relapsed, two of them died. Up until now only one patient developed hypothyroidism; no symptomatic cardiac or pulmonary dysfunction, no second malignancy has been diagnosed.

CONCLUSIONS

Risk-adapted treatment consisting of CT alone is highly efficacious for children with HD and toxicity is low. XRT was administered in only a small minority of children with HD. CT should be the first choice for HD in children and XRT should preferably be used for those with refractory or histologically proven residual disease or relapse.

Differential attenuation of clavicle growth after asymmetric mantle radiotherapy

PURPOSE

To determine the effects of 15 Gy on bone growth as a function of time and age by comparing clavicle length before and after asymmetric mantle irradiation in pediatric patients.

METHODS AND MATERIALS

We measured the lengths of both clavicles from radiographs made before and after radiotherapy (median follow-up, 39.6 months), in 15 children (median age, 13.3 years) with early-stage Hodgkin's disease treated with combined modality therapy. The intercepts and slopes of regression lines for individual patients were used to form an estimating regression curve for the population.

RESULTS

The irradiated volume, patient age, and time elapsed after treatment influenced the measured growth. Fully irradiated clavicles grew 1.3 +/- 0.3 cm, significantly less (0.5 cm; p = 0.007) than did the partially irradiated clavicles. The difference between partially and fully irradiated clavicle lengths was statistically significant, regardless of age. Also, the growth rate of partially and fully irradiated clavicles was significantly different between younger (mean age, 9.9 years) and older (mean age, 16.4 years) patients (p = 0.036).

CONCLUSION

Clavicle growth is vulnerable to radiation doses as low as 15 Gy, and patient age at the time of irradiation influences the growth rate.

High risk of subsequent neoplasms continues with extended follow-up of childhood Hodgkin's disease: report from the Late Effects Study Group

PURPOSE

We present an update of a previously reported Late Effects Study Group cohort of 1,380 children with Hodgkin's disease (HD) diagnosed between 1955 and 1986 in patients aged 16 years or younger. We describe the pattern and incidence of subsequent neoplasms (SNs) occurring with extended follow-up.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Median age at diagnosis of HD was 11.7 years (range, 0.3 to 16.9 years) and at last follow-up was 27.8 years. Median length of follow-up was 17.0 years.

RESULTS

An additional 103 SNs were ascertained (total SNs = 212). The cohort was at an 18.5-fold increased risk of developing SNs compared with the general population (standardized incidence ratio [SIR], 18.5, 95% CI, 15.6 to 21.7). The cumulative incidence of any second malignancy was 10.6% at 20 years, increasing to 26.3% at 30 years; and of solid malignancies was 7.3% at 20 years, increasing to 23.5% at 30 years. Breast cancer was the most common solid malignancy (SIR, 56.7). Other commonly occurring solid malignancies included thyroid cancer (SIR, 36.4), bone tumors (SIR, 37.1), and colorectal (SIR, 36.4), lung (SIR, 27.3), and gastric cancers (SIR, 63.9). Risk factors for solid tumors included young age at HD and radiation-based therapy. Thirty-two patients developed third neoplasms, with the cumulative incidence approaching 21% at 10 years from diagnosis of second malignancy.

CONCLUSION

Additional follow-up of this large cohort of HD survivors documents an increasing occurrence of known radiation-associated solid tumors, (breast and thyroid cancers), as well as emergence of epithelial neoplasms common in adults, (colon and lung cancers) at a younger age than expected in the general population, necessitating ongoing surveillance of this high risk population.

Paediatric radiotherapy in Australia and New Zealand: An anachronism in 2003?

This report reviews the activities of the Paediatric Special Interest Group of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists in terms of its involvement with the Australian and New Zealand Children's Cancer Study Group and its research and educational activities. Examples of when and how radiotherapy is currently used in the management of paediatric malignancies are provided. Some thoughts for the future of both paediatric radiotherapy and our subspecialty are also presented.

Prognostic factors in pediatric Hodgkin disease

The sensitivity of pediatric Hodgkin disease to radiation and chemotherapy has resulted in cure for most children and adolescents who have been diagnosed in the past three decades. Identification of prognostic factors in clinical trials has allowed for tailoring of therapeutic approaches to improve outcome in sequential trials. Tumor burden, symptoms, clinical features, pathology, response to therapy, biology, and host factors are reviewed in this context. New developments should be directed toward identification of factors associated with biologic mechanisms of disease to facilitate the development of biologically targeted therapies that will be more efficacious and less toxic.

A discourse: the 2002 Wataru W. Sutow lecture. Hodgkin disease in children--perspectives and progress

THE PIONEER: Wataru W. Sutow, 1912-1981, was a remarkable and pivotal leader in pediatric oncology. Early in his medical career, he conducted important clinical and anthropometric studies among Japanese and Marshall Island children exposed to atomic radiation. These studies established standards for childhood growth and development still in use today. Dr. Sutow pioneered the multidisciplinary approach to childhood cancer by combining multidrug chemotherapy protocols with surgery and radiotherapy in the common childhood solid tumors. The textbook "Clinical Pediatric Oncology," of which he was the senior editor, served to define the discipline of pediatric oncology and educate a new era of oncologists in the curative treatment for childhood cancer. THE PAST AND PRESENT: The first edition of "Clinical Pediatric Oncology," published in 1973, demonstrated that only children with early-stage localized Hodgkin disease had a realistic opportunity for cure. Soon the use of combined-modality therapy consisting of low-dose, involved-field radiation plus multi-agent chemotherapy emerged, and made the goal of cure realistic for all patients. This approach is now universal. Today, the 5-year relative survival rate for American children with Hodgkin disease, who are under 14 years of age, is 94%, a dramatic and remarkable achievement.

FUTURE

Management of children with Hodgkin disease now involves clinical staging and risk-adapted, combined-modality therapy. Clinical and translational research initiatives that hold promise for children with Hodgkin disease in the future include: use of the WHO Classification System combining morphologic and biologic criteria; noninvasive staging procedures with increased sensitivity and specificity; development of a useful prognostic index to define groups for risk-adapted therapy; high-dose therapy with stem cell transplantation; and novel therapies.

The management of Hodgkin disease in the young child

Although childhood Hodgkin disease is sensitive to the treatment regimens devised for Hodgkin disease in adults, long-term toxicity is enhanced in the developing individual. As a result, there have been dual goals in the design of clinical trials for pediatric Hodgkin disease: 1) to reduce long-term organ injury; and 2) to increase efficacy. Radiation dose and field has been reduced by enhanced reliance on chemotherapy, thus limiting the risks of hypoplasia, hypothyroidism, secondary cancers, and valvular and atherosclerotic heart disease. Multiagent, chemotherapeutic regimens for children have been developed to avoid the risks of sterility, leukemia, and cardiopulmonary toxicity. Newer approaches advocate for early dose intensity to limit cumulative therapy using response-based paradigms. Targeting molecular mechanisms specific for the Reed-Sternberg cell may allow for less toxic and more efficacious treatments in the future.

Pediatric Hodgkin's disease--up, up, and beyond

Juan A. del Regato, 1909-1999, was a superb clinician-educator who recognized the radiocurability of Hodgkin's disease but questioned treatment without late effects, particularly in children. The remarkable progress in pediatric Hodgkin's disease today is a tribute to this influential pioneer, who served as a role model to many. Combined modality therapy using low-dose, involved-field radiation and multiagent chemotherapy today results in a 5-year relative survival rate of 94% among American children with Hodgkin's disease. However, several areas hold promise for future advances, including a new pathology classification and biology studies that distinguish classic Hodgkin's disease from other lymphomas; new noninvasive staging techniques, including 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography; the definition of risk groups to segregate low-, intermediate-, and high-risk groups on the basis of a prognostic index, facilitating risk-adapted therapy; and myeloablative therapy followed by hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Currently used for children with relapse, it is associated with a 5-year survival of 65% and should be considered as the initial therapy for high-risk groups. Idiopathic diffuse pulmonary toxicity after autologous transplantation is high among children with an atopic history; thus, atopy should be considered when selecting children appropriate for transplantation. Finally, novel therapies, such as the anti-CD20 antibody, rituximab, may be useful for children with CD20+, lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin's disease. The universal goal of cure without late effects is realistic for almost all children with Hodgkin's disease today.