Treatment & Outlook for Recurrent Hodgkin's Disease

reuben_payne

Hi,

I was hoping someone could tell me what the outlook is for recurrent Hodgkin's disease.

I was first diagnosed in my final year of school with stage 2B Hodgkin's disease. I first had a course of ABVD chemotherapy (about 6 cycles, as I remember).

13 months after treatment finished, the disease came back. This time I had high dose chemo with an autologous stem cell transplant, and radiotherapy.

It has now been about 4 or 5 years since the second treatment. I have recently visited a doctor about a lymph node that is present in my neck (under 1cm, but it's been there for a couple of months now). I had a fine needle biopsy, and am currently waiting for the results.

My question is: if it comes back for a second time, is it simply a matter of having another stem cell transplant etc. and getting another few years in remission, or does it become merely palliative treatment the third time around?

Thanks for your help

Reuben

rlee · Site Admin Joined: 15 Jan 2006 Posts: 245

You ask a very good question without an easy answer. I think it partially depends on the type of NHL you have along with the extent of disease. 1st wait to see what the path shows. If it is recurrence, then you will need to get the disease in control. Then begins the long term discussion about transplant. I would consider a 2nd opinion if this is the case at an experienced cancer center, ie top 10 center.

RLee, MD
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RLee, MD

Any information provided is NOT intended to provide specific medical advice to users but rather to provide users with information to help them better understand their health condition and related care. All readers are strongly encouraged to consult with a qualified physician for answers to their personal medical questions.

reuben_payne

Thanks to rlee for the reply, and to Brainman for the PM. Thought I'd provide an update in case anyone else is interested in the issue.

The needle biopsy results came back ok, so it doesn't look like it's Hodgkins. Brilliant news for me as I am set to relocate to Singapore in 2 1/2 weeks - I was very concerned this would prevent me from going!

I spoke briefly with the doctor about treatment options in the event of another relapse. He obviously didn't want to talk specifics (as it is all hypothetical) but he seemed quite positive about further treatment (possibly exploring different drugs), and about another transplant (maybe with someone else's bone marrow - spoke of graft effect etc.).

So I guess the upshot is that after a 5 year remission there is definitely still hope in the event of a second relapse, however (as rlee said) there is no set treatment - it depends on the case at hand.

Roberta1

Congrats on the good news! Hope everything goes well with your relocation. Sending prayers you'll never have to find out what happens with a 2nd relapse.
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Love and Prayers
Berta

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