Lung malignancies after Hodgkin lymphoma: disease characteristics, detection methods and clinical outcome

Abstract

Background: Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) survivors have an increased risk of secondary malignancies. We analyzed outcomes in patients with lung cancers following HL treatment.

Patients and methods: Cases of thoracic malignancies were retrospectively identified from a multi-institutional database of 1976 patients treated for HL from 1969 to 2007. Data regarding risk factors, disease characteristics and outcomes were obtained from medical records.

Results: Lung malignancies were identified in 55 patients a median of 19.5 years after initial HL therapy. Thirty-one patients (56%) had a >10 pack-year history of tobacco use, 48 (87%) received thoracic irradiation and 26 (47%) received alkylating chemotherapy. Of the 42 patients with known stage at lung cancer diagnosis, 23 (55%) were stage IV and 5 (12%) were stage III. The method of lung cancer detection was known for 35 patients; of these, 12 (34%) were detected incidentally. Median survival time after diagnosis was 10 months for all 55 patients. Median survival time for patients with incidentally detected tumors has not been reached with a median follow-up of 39 months.

Conclusions: Lung malignancies diagnosed in patients successfully treated for HL generally have a dismal prognosis. However, a subset of patients diagnosed incidentally may have potentially curable disease.