Adding Radiation to Chemotherapy May Improve Outcomes in Early-
Stage Hodgkin Lymphoma Combined data from five randomized
clinical trials appear to suggest that combined radiation
therapy and chemotherapy for patients with early-stage Hodgkin
lymphoma decreases the risk of relapse and increases overall
survival compared with chemotherapy alone. However, these data
are insufficient to draw firm conclusions that could be used to
definitely inform therapy. Also, these data do not address the
known risks of radiation therapy, which include late-term organ
damage and second cancers. Cochrane Database of Systematic
Reviews, published online February 16, 2011 (see the journal
abstract). The combination of radiation therapy and chemotherapy
is currently a standard treatment for some stages of Hodgkin
lymphoma. However, radiation therapy can cause late side effects
in survivors. Since patients with Hodgkin lymphoma tend to be
young at the time of treatment, many survivors have decades of
life after treatment in which l