[Prognostic factors concerning the survival time of Hodgkin's disease stage III and IV, treated with cytostatic agents]

Abstract

On the basis of a retrospective study of 79 well-documented cases of Hodgkin's disease it has been possible to determine the prognostic significance of several factors in regard to 3-year survival. All patients evaluated were in stage III or IV and receiving polychemotherapy. According to the survival curves, the following factors adversely affected the prognosis to a significant extent: clinical stage IV, the presence of systemic symptoms, male sex, and failure to receive maintenance therapy. Also, patients treated by polychemotherapy only on relapse following other prior treatment, had a somewhat worse prognosis, though in out patient material this was not statistically significant. Other criteria significantly affecting the probability of 3-year survival in a negative sense were: decreased activity index, anemia, lymphopenia, elevated alkaline phosphatase values, low serum albumin and high serum globulin values. Elevated sedimentation rate, leukocytosis and leukopenia had no statistically significant influence upon survival.