Treatment for favorable localized Hodgkin lymphoma: the final answer is awaited.

The article in this issue of ONCOLOGY by Kelsey et al differs very little from a recent publication on the issue of early Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) therapy from radiation oncologists.[1] These have been matched by editorials that question the role of radiation therapy in early HL, especially in nonbulky favorable presentations.[2-7] The argument that extensive radiation fields and doses have both been reduced and thus radiation therapy is less likely to be carcinogenic is well accepted, but most of the publications from the United States, Canada, and Europe have recorded the long-term toxicity of the radiation therapy given 20 or more years ago. The most vulnerable groups are the pediatric and adolescent age groups, in whom long-term cardiac and carcinogenic activity has been carefully recorded.[8,9]