Definition of cure for Hodgkin's disease.

with Stage I and II disease there is excessive mortality per unit time as compared to the control population for at least 10 years after treatment. Thus, while the above definition is acceptable, the lag period required for the evaluation of potentially curative treatment is very long. In an attempt to determine the presence and degree of curative treatment in a shorter time, the relapse-free interval following treatment has been studied. For patients with Stage I and II disease, at least 80% of those destined to relapse do so within 4 years and in excess of 90% do so within 10 years. These are average data from a number of studies including those where case accrual started in 1932 to those where case accrual started as late as 1957. For those studies where the major case accrual occurred prior to lymphangiography staging, late relapses (between 4 and 10 years) are somewhat more common than in later series. This is probably because the retroperitoneal area is relatively "silent" and it may take several years for such relapses to