Principles of radiation therapy for hodgkin lymphoma

Abstract

Radiation therapy (RT) is a major component of the current successful treatment of Hodgkin lymphoma (HL). For decades, radiation was used alone to cure the majority of patients with HL; RT is still the most effective single agent in the oncologic armamentarium for this disease, and RT alone remains the treatment of choice for patients with early-stage lymphocyte predominance HL (LPHL) and for selected patients with classical HL who have contraindications to chemotherapy. Currently, most patients with HL are treated with combined-modality programs in which RT is given as consolidation after chemotherapy. As the role of RT has transformed over the years from a single modality into a component of combined-modality therapy, the classic principles of RT fields, dose, and technique have fundamentally changed.