Is Staging Laparotomy of Therapeutic Value in Patients with Supradiaphragmatic Hodgkin's Disease, Clinical Stage IA-IIA?

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Abstract
Between 1968 and 1972, 123 patients with clinical stage (CS) IA and IIA Hodgkin''s disease were seen. Staging laparotomy was introduced in June 1970. The impact of staging laparotomy on the prognosis was evaluated by comparing the treatment results before and after the introduction of this procedure. The patients were treated only on the basis of CS before staging laparotomy, and mainly on the basis of pathological stage (PS) after the introduction of this procedure. Patients with stage IA to IIIA disease received radiotherapy alone with the extended field techniques; patients with stage IVA disease had combination chemotherapy [nitrogen mustard, vinblastine, procarbazine, prednisolone]. After an observation time of 7 yr there was no difference in survival between the 2 groups. The relapses occurred earlier in the patients treated after the introduction of staging laparotomy. Survival apparently is unaffected by staging laparotomy in patients with Hodgkin''s disease CS IA and IIA.