Pediatric Hodgkin Lymphoma: Making Progress

Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is one of the more common cancers encountered among pediatric and adolescent patients; however, most HL occurs in adults, and children constitute only a small proportion of the total number of cases. Treatment outcomes for pediatric HL are excellent and current strategies focus on reduction of therapy-related toxicity while maintaining high survival. This has been achieved by identifying patient cohorts who are at a lower risk for relapse and can be successfully treated with reduced amounts of chemotherapeutic agents and radiation therapy. This identification has been assisted by better understanding of newer imaging modalities, in particular functional FDG–PET imaging. Patients who fail first-line therapy continue to have a chance of cure, and a variety of modalities are available for their treatment. New therapeutic agents, both traditional and biological, are under assessment.