PET-Guided Treatment of Early-Stage Favorable Hodgkin Lymphoma: Final Results of the International, Randomized Phase 3 Trial HD16 By the German Hodgkin Study Group

Background.Combined modality treatment (CMT) consisting of two cycles of ABVD (doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, dacarbazine) and 20 Gy of involved-field radiotherapy (IFRT) is widely accepted standard of care for early-stage favorable Hodgkin lymphoma (HL). Recent clinical research suggests that metabolic response assessment after two cycles of chemotherapy using FDG-PET (PET-2) can predict the individual outcome and PET-2 negativity might allow reducing the overall treatment intensity.