9°c A few clouds
19°c Sunny
Health Day - ONLINE EDITION
Limited Radiation May Help Some Kids With Lymphoma
Therapy increased progression-free survival in children who responded well to chemo, study says
Therapy increased progression-free survival in children who responded well to chemo, study says.
TUESDAY, June 26 (HealthDay News) -- Limited radiation therapy was associated with high rates of two-year, event-free survival in children with favorable-risk Hodgkin lymphoma who had a complete response to chemotherapy, a new study shows.
More than 90 percent of children with favorable-risk Hodgkin lymphoma are long-term survivors. Research has shown, however, that these patients have elevated death rates more than 10 years after their diagnosis due to long-term toxic effects of their treatment, particularly radiation, said Dr. Monika Metzger, of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., and colleagues.
To reduce the long-term risk of complications, doctors use response-based therapies tailored to patients based on their early initial response to treatment. This approach seeks to identify patients who can safely receive lower levels of radiation.
In this study, Metzger and colleagues looked at 47 patients who had a complete response to chemotherapy and did not receive radiation, and 41 patients who had a less-than-complete response to chemotherapy and received limited radiation treatment.
The two-year event-free survival rate was 89.4 percent for patients who did not receive radiation and 92.5 percent for those who received limited radiation. The five-year event-free survival rates were 89.4 percent and 87.5 percent, respectively.
The study was published in the June 27 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The findings "highlight the continued commitment to reduce complications in the treatment of childhood malignancies and add to the growing body of evidence detailing the utility of early-response-adapted therapy," Dr. Kimberly Whelan and Dr. Frederick Goldman, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, wrote in an accompanying editorial.
More information
The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more about childhood Hodgkin lymphoma.
More Your Health
- Back to Top
- Return to Your Health
More Your Health
(1 of 23 articles for today)
Portland, Ore., residents voting whether to put fluoride in water; last big city without it
10:06 PM 0PORTLAND, Ore. - Oral health and politics collided Tuesday as Portlanders — proudly nonconformist and environmentally minded — decided whether ...
Poll
Ads by Google
You can comment on most stories on winnipegfreepress.com. You can also agree or disagree with other comments. All you need to do is register and/or login and you can join the conversation and give your feedback.
Have Your Say
New to commenting? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions.
The Winnipeg Free Press does not necessarily endorse any of the views posted. By submitting your comment, you agree to our Terms and Conditions. These terms were revised effective April 16, 2010.