Consolidation radiotherapy following positron emission tomography complete response in early-stage Hodgkin lymphoma: a meta-analysis

Despite a number of randomized trials, there is clinical equipoise whether de-escalation with the omission of radiotherapy (RT) in positron emission tomography (PET) responders is safe in early-stage Hodgkin lymphoma (HL). A comprehensive Medline and conference abstracts search was performed to identify prospective studies with the following criteria: early-stage (stage I/II) HL treated with anthracycline-based chemotherapy with PET-directed randomization to ± consolidation RT. Four studies were meta-analyzed with a total of 2267 patients (RT: n = 1136, no RT: n = 1131). Pooled analysis showed a significant progression-free survival (PFS) benefit with RT (HR = 2.08, 95% CI 1.27– 3.43 p =.004, RE). There was no statistically significant overall survival (OS) benefit with RT for all patients (HR = 0.92, 95% CI 0.37–2.30, p = 0.85), nor in favorable (HR = 0.90, p =.89) or unfavorable risk (HR = 1.01, p =.99). In early-stage PET-negative HL, consolidative RT consistently improves PFS across risk stratifications over PET-directed omission of RT, with no significant impact on OS.