Treatments for childhood nodular lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin lymphoma

The following are treatment options for childhood nodular lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin lymphoma (HL). The healthcare team will suggest treatments based on your child’s needs and work with you to develop a treatment plan. Treatments are based on the stage of the cancer.

Surgery to remove the lymph nodes is the main treatment for stage 1 nodular lymphocyte-predominant childhood HL when doctors think the tumour can be completely removed (resected). The surgeon removes only the lymph nodes that are known to have cancer. After surgery, the healthcare team will follow the child closely for signs that the cancer has come back (recurred).

Surgery to remove the lymph nodes is also called lymph node dissection. Find out more about lymph node dissection.

The following treatments may be offered for stage 2, 3 or 4 nodular lymphocyte-predominant childhood HL.

Chemotherapy is the primary treatment for stages 2, 3 and 4 of nodular lymphocyte-predominant childhood HL. It may be given alone or it may be followed by radiation therapy.

Chemotherapy combinations used include:

• COPP/ABV – cyclophosphamide (Procytox), vincristine (Oncovin), prednisone, procarbazine hydrochloride (Matulane) with doxorubicin (Adriamycin), bleomycin (Blenoxane) and vinblastine
• CPV – cyclophosphamide, vinblastine and prednisolone
• DBVE – doxorubicin, bleomycin, vincristine and etoposide (Vepesid, VP-16)
• VAMP – vincristine, doxorubicin, methotrexate and prednisone
• AV-PC – doxorubicin, vincristine, prednisone and cyclophosphamide

Find out more about chemotherapy for childhood Hodgkin lymphoma.

After chemotherapy, low-dose radiation therapy may be given to areas that have cancer. The type of radiation therapy used is external radiation therapy. During external radiation therapy, a machine directs radiation through the skin to the tumour and some of the tissue around it. The dose of radiation and the area treated are kept as small as possible.

Find out more about radiation therapy for childhood Hodgkin lymphoma.

Children with cancer may be treated in a clinical trial. Clinical trials look at new ways to prevent, find and treat cancer. Find out more about clinical trials.