Non-Hodgkin lymphoma after treatment for classical Hodgkin lymphoma: a report from the German Hodgkin Study Group

Data on non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) after classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) are scarce. We therefore performed a retrospective analysis comprising 11 center dot 841 cHL patients who had first-line treatment within the randomized German Hodgkin Study Group (GHSG) HD7-HD15 studies. After a median follow-up of 106 months, 175 patients (1 center dot 5%) had developed NHL. The median time to NHL was 44 months, the median age at NHL diagnosis was 54 years. The five-year event-free survival and overall survival estimates from the diagnosis of NHL were 36 center dot 9% and 44 center dot 2%, respectively. Thus, NHL after cHL is a rare event primarily affecting older individuals and often resulting in the patient ' s death.