Hodgkin's lymphoma in elderly patients

Abstract

The paper presents the clinical characteristics and the treatment of the elderly patient diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL). Older patients (>60-year-old) account for approximately 10–20% of patients with HL. The differences in the biology of the disease and the prognosis in elderly compared to younger patients were discussed. This applies to more frequent recognition in elderly patients advanced stage of lymphoma, more frequent occurrence of mixed cellularity subtype and high prognostic indicator. Despite improved outcomes in recent decades of HL prognosis of older patients still remains serious. This results from an inferior response to therapy as well as difficulties in maintaining the proper intensity of treatment. There is no recognized recommended chemotherapy regimen for elderly patients. ABVD regimen used most often seems to be too toxic in this group of patients. The paper discussed other alternative chemotherapy regimens used in this group of patients.