[Results of radiotherapy in case of Hodgkin's disease after primary failure of chemotherapy and recurrence after chemotherapy ].

Until now, the possibility of radiotherapeutic treatment after a failure of chemotherapy has not been systematically investigated. Eight cases with primary failure of chemotherapy or recurrence after chemotherapy could be evaluated. The patients were submitted to curative irradiation; six of them achieved a total remission, four had recurrences. Thus two patients remain to give an example that radiotherapy can bring about long-term total remissions after primary failure of chemotherapy or recurrence after chemotherapy. When the data were evaluated, the total remission times of the two patients were 12 and 18 months, respectively. The toxicity of radiotherapy was justifiable. It was increased especially in regions that had already been irradiated or if a ABVD therapy was applied a short time before or after the radiotherapy. There are only few communications in literature about the success of a radiotherapy after failure of chemotherapy. Most of the patients mentioned had "remissions" (total/partial remissions?). In most of the cases, there are no indications about the further development. On the whole, the data show that there may be some special indications for radiotherapy in case of a failure of chemotherapy.