One size for all in Hodgkin lymphoma?

Abstract

Over the past decades, cure rates in Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) have steadily improved. This was most obvious in patients with advanced disease after the introduction of multi-agent chemotherapy protocols such as MOPP (mechlorethamine, vincristine, procarbazine, prednisone) and ABVD (adriamycin, bleomycin, vinblastine, dacarbazine). More recently, the more intensive BEACOPP(escalated) (bleomycin, etoposide, adriamycin, cyclophosphamide, vincristine, procarbazine, prednisone) was shown to be significantly superior to previous standard approaches in advanced adult HL. In this issue of Blood, Kelly and colleagues now report that BEACOPP(escalated) is also feasible and highly effective in high-risk pediatric and adolescent HL patients.