Hybrid (COPP/ABV) Therapy in Childhood Hodgkin's Disease: A Study of 53 Cases During 1989-1993 at the Cancer Institute, Madras

The optimal therapy for children with Hodgkin 's disease is controversial. Between 1989 and 1993, 53 children under 14 years of age with Hodgkin's disease were treated with COPP/ABV (cyclophosphamide, vincristine, procarbazine, prednisolone/adriamycin, bleomycin, vinblastine) hybrid chemotherapy. The results were analyzed with the Kaplan-Meier product limit method for survival and the Logrank test for predicting statistical significance. Ten patients (18.87%) had early-stage disease (I to IIA) and 43 (81.13%) had advanced disease. Lymphocyte-predominant histology was seen in 20 (37.5%) patients, nodular sclerosis in 8 (15%), mixed cellularity in 21 (39.6%), and lymphocyte depletion in 4 (7.56%). The male: female ratio was 3.82:1. Complete responses were seen in 51 (96.22%) patients, with 47 (92.15%) of them in sustained first remission. The event-free survival rate is 90.3% to date. COPP/ABV hybrid chemotherapy is an effective primary therapy for all stages of Hodgkin's disease in children.