Hodgkin Lymphoma in Children: Experience in a Tertiary Care Centre in India

Background: In developing countries Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) has been seen to have a high male to female ratio, younger age at presentation, a high proportion of patients in advanced stage of disease, constitutional symptoms, and predominance of mixed cellularity histologic type. The results of treatment appear to be comparable to the results attained in developed nations. Methods: Children with HL who were diagnosed and treated at our center between 1990 and 2006 were retrospectively analyzed. Results: A total of 206 children with a mean age of 7.9 +/- 2.6 (range, 3 to 16) years were treated for HL. Among them, 52% presented with advanced-stage (stages III and IV) disease, 54% had B symptoms, and 69.6% had mixed cellularity type of HL. Multiagent chemotherapy was the mainstay of treatment. The 5-year overall survival and event-free survival rates were 92.7% and 77.75%, respectively. Children with early-stage disease and absence of B symptoms had a better overall survival of 97.7% each, as compared with 87.2% and 88.2% in those with late-stage disease and B symptoms, respectively. Conclusions: Even though developing countries have a different epidemiological profile, the outcome is good. Chemotherapy alone has shown excellent results in children with HL.