Radiotherapy in the treatment of localised non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (Report no 16).

This report describes the experience of the BNLI in the treatment of localised (Stage I, II) non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHL). About a third of all patients with NHL presenting to collaborators in the BNLI were considered after investigation to have localised disease. This relatively large number suggests that some cases may have been understaged. Patients with Grade 1 disease were treated with either local irradiation or with local irradiation followed by chlorambucil. Survival rates in the two groups were essentially similar and it appeared that radiotherapy alone provided equally effective treatment. Patients with Grade 2 lymphomas were treated with either local irradiation or with local irradiation followed by COP. Primary nodal disease was not obviously affected by the addition of chemotherapy. Extranodal disease arising in the gut below the diaphragm appeared to be adversely affected by the irradiation which was of necessity spread over several weeks, delaying the use of chemotherapy. Extranodal disease arising in the head and neck region is controlled in about 80% of patients and the routine use of prophylactic combination chemotherapy confers no benefit to the patient.