Table of Contents
Prognosis
Hodgkin’s disease is considered one of the most curable forms of cancer, especially if it is diagnosed and treated early. Unlike other cancers, Hodgkin's disease is even potentially curable in late stages Five-year survival rates for patients diagnosed with stage I or stage II Hodgkin’s disease are 90 - 95%. With advances in treatment, recent studies indicate that even patients with advanced Hodgkin’s disease have 5-year survival rates of 90%, although it is not yet certain if their disease will eventually return. Patients who survive 15 years after treatment are more likely to later die from other causes than from Hodgkin’s disease.
Survival rates are poorest for patients who:
- Relapse within a year of treatment
- Do not respond to the first-line therapy and have signs of disease progression
Factors that Influence Prognosis
The International Prognostic Factors Project on Advanced Hodgkin's Disease uses seven factors to help determine which patients with advanced Hodgkin's disease have a more serious prognosis and could benefit from more aggressive chemotherapy. These factors are also used to predict success in patients with relapsed or persistent HD who are undergoing stem cell transplantation.
The more of these factors that are present, the worse the outlook and the more likely the patient needs to be treated aggressively:
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Review Date: 01/27/2011
Reviewed By: Harvey Simon, MD, Editor-in-Chief, Associate Professor of Medicine,
Harvard Medical School; Physician, Massachusetts General Hospital.
Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M.,
Inc.
A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org)
