Solid tumors in patients treated for Hodgkin's disease: a report from the German Hodgkin Lymphoma Study Group

K. Behringer1,*, A. Josting1, P. Schiller1, H. T. Eich2, H. Bredenfeld1, V. Diehl1 and A. Engert1

1 First Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospital Cologne and the German Hodgkin Lymphoma Study Group (GHSG); 2 Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Cologne, Germany

*Correspondence to: Dr K. Behringer, First Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospital Cologne, Joseph-Stelzmann-Str. 9, 50924 Cologne, Germany. Tel: +49-221-473558; Fax: +49-221-476311; Email: karolin.behringer{at}biometrie.uni-koeln.de


    Abstract
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Patients and methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
Background: Long-term survivors of successfully treated Hodgkin's disease (HD) are at risk for late complications. Among these, secondary solid tumors are most serious because they are often fatal. The aim of this retrospective analysis was to assess the incidence, relative risk and risk factors of secondary solid tumors in HD patients registered in the database of the German Hodgkin Lymphoma Study Group (GHSG).

Patients and methods: From 1983 to 1998, the GHSG conducted three generations of clinical trials for early, intermediate and advanced stage HD (HD1–HD9) involving a total of 5367 patients. Data on incidence, risk factors and relative risk were updated in March 2003.

Results: A total of 127 patients with secondary solid tumors were identified. Among these, lung cancer (23.6%), colorectal cancer (20.5%) and breast cancer (10.2%) were the most frequent. After a median follow-up of 72 months the cumulative risk of developing a solid tumor was 2%, with an overall relative risk (RR) of 2.4 (lung cancer, 3.8; colorectal cancer, 3.2; breast cancer, 1.9). For most patients (n=67; 52.8%) developing a secondary solid tumor, treatment modality consisted of chemotherapy combined with radiotherapy in extended field technique (RR = 3.3).

Conclusions: With a median follow-up of 72 months, there were 127 patients developing solid tumors out of a total of 5367 HD patients treated in the GHSG studies HD1–HD9. The cumulative risk of 2% is expected to increase over time due to the rather short median observation time and slow progression of solid malignancies.

Key words: Hodgkin's lymphoma, risk factors, secondary solid tumors


    Introduction
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Patients and methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
As a consequence of the impressive long-term remission rates in Hodgkin's disease (HD), the reduction of treatment-related complications is becoming increasingly important for the improvement of long-term survival in this disease. Depending on the stage and risk factor profile, on average, >80% of patients with HD can be cured with first-line treatment [1Go]. Among treatment-related complications, such as infertility, cardiac, pulmonary or thyroidal dysfunction, secondary malignancies represent the leading cause of excess mortality in long-term HD survivors [2Go, 3Go]. An increased risk of second cancers has been observed after both chemo- and radiotherapy. The malignancies most frequently observed include acute myeloid leukemia (AML)/myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) [4Go–7Go], non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) [8Go, 9Go] and solid tumors.

So far, the German Hodgkin Lymphoma Study Group (GHSG) has analyzed their database for secondary non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (sNHL) [8Go] and for secondary AML/MDS (sAML/MDS) [7Go]. The sAML/MDS update in the GHSG database involved 5411 patients treated in the studies HD1–HD9 from 1978 to 1998. There was an incidence of 1% sAML/MDS after a median observation time of 55 months. Treatment protocols included a variety of treatment options ranging from palliation to allogeneic stem cell transplantation. No difference was observed in overall survival (OS) between patients receiving allogeneic stem cell transplantation and those receiving conventional treatment or palliation. Outcome was very poor: 39 of 46 (85%) patients developing sAML/MDS did not survive >1 year after diagnosis. After 24 months, OS was 8%. The complex karyotype aberration observed in six of 15 patients analyzed does not allow one to link secondary AML/MDS in these patients to one particular cytostatic drug or group of drugs. In addition, 36 of 46 patients had combined modality treatment suggesting that the risk is higher in those patients receiving both chemotherapy and radiotherapy [7Go].

Analysis of sNHL within the GHSG database showed a 5-year actuarial risk of 0.9% with a median follow up of 46 months. For all patients, the actuarial OS at 2 years was 30%. The outcome was significantly influenced by the time of occurrence after HD. For patients developing sNHL within 3 months of the end of first-line therapy, OS was 20% compared with 42% for patients developing their sNHL within 12 months of first treatment [8Go].

Since solid tumors are the secondary malignancy most often observed after successful treatment for HD, we retrospectively analyzed 5367 patients registered in the database of the German Hodgkin's Lymphoma Study Group (GHSG) for secondary solid tumors. The aim of the present analysis was to determine incidence, relative risk and risk factors associated with the development of solid tumors in HD.


    Patients and methods
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Patients and methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
Patient selection
From 1981 to 1998, 5367 HD patients were enrolled into three generations of clinical trials (HD1–HD9) and registered in the GHSG database (Table 1Go). Eligibility criteria were patients between the ages of 16 and 75 years with biopsy-proven HD at diagnosis. Histology of 4025 cases (75%) were reviewed by the GHSG expert pathologists panel. Eligibility criteria before study enrollment included adequate organ function as defined by a creatinine clearance >60 ml/min, serum transaminases <3 x upper limit of normal and bilirubin ≥2 ml/dl, left ventricular ejection fraction ≥0.45, forced expiratory volume in first-second [FEV1] or diffusion capacity of carbon monoxide (DLCO) >60% of predicted, Karnofsky performance score of >60 and WBCs ≥3500/µl, hemoglobin level ≥8 g/dl and platelets ≥100 000/µl. With the start of the second study generation in 1988, patients were required to test negative for antibodies against the human immunodeficiency virus and to be free of active infection. Consent forms, based on the Institutional Review Board guidelines, were signed by each patient. The analysis for survival data of all patients recorded in the GHSG trial database is based on the analysis of March 2003.


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Table 1 GHSG clinical trials between 1981 and 1998

 
Secondary solid tumors
For patients who developed secondary solid tumors, the following parameters were recorded: type of solid tumor, date of diagnosis, age at diagnosis, time between primary HD and secondary neoplasia, and type of treatment regimen for HD.

Statistics
The cumulative risk of developing secondary solid tumors was assessed according to the Kaplan–Meier method [10Go]. The time to occurrence of solid tumor was calculated from the date of diagnosis of HD to the date of diagnosis of secondary solid tumor. The incidence of a given solid tumor in HD-treated patients and the incidence in the general population were compared. The relative risks were determined as the ratio of observed (O) and expected (E) number of solid tumors in the study population and 95% confidence limits were calculated. The expected number of solid tumors was calculated based on the listings of the Cancer Registry of Saarland (Germany), 2nd edition. Overall survival (OS) was measured from diagnosis of solid tumor until death from any cause. OS rates were estimated according to the Kaplan–Meier method [10Go]. Demographics and disease characteristics were summarized using descriptive statistics, and all statistical analyses were performed using SPSS 10.0 for Windows (SPSS, Chicago, IL).


    Results
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Patients and methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
Patient characteristics
Of 5367 patients registered in the GHSG database, 127 patients with secondary solid tumors were identified (Table 2Go). Seventy-two (56.7%) were male and 55 (43.3%) female. Most of the patients (n=58; 45.7%) had stage II disease at first diagnosis, and 56 (44.1%) had B symptoms. The most frequent histopathological type was mixed cellularity (43.3%). Primary treatment for HD consisted of radiotherapy alone in 11.0%, chemotherapy alone in 11.8% and combined modality in 77.2% of cases. At the time of HD diagnosis, 36.2% of patients were >55 years of age. When comparing patients who developed solid tumors with all patients included in the analysis, no difference was found in terms of sex, stage or B symptoms at HD diagnosis. However, there were differences for age at diagnosis of HD and histopathological subtype: most patients in the solid tumor group (36.2%) were >55 years of age at first treatment, whereas only 594 patients of the whole group of 5367 patients were >55 years of age. Nodular sclerosis was the most frequently observed histopathological subtype (n=2411; 44.9%) in the group of all patients included, while mixed cellularity was most frequent (n=55; 43.3%) in the group of patients developing a solid tumor (Table 3Go).


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Table 2 Number of patients with solid tumors

 

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Table 3 Patient characteristics

 
Time of occurrence and relative risk of secondary solid tumors
After a median observation of 72 months, the cumulative risk of developing a solid tumor was 2% [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.6–2.4], which increases continuously over time (Figure 1Go). There were 30 patients with lung cancer (23.6%), 26 patients with gastrointestinal cancer (20.5%) and 13 with breast cancer (10.2%). Several other cancers, such as melanoma (7.9%), skin (4.7%), thyroid (4.0%), kidney (4.0%), female genitals (4.0%), testes (3.1%), tongue (3.1%), pancreas (2.4%), liver (1.6%) and biliary tract cancer (1.6%) were reported (Table 4Go). The overall relative risk of developing a solid tumor was 2.4 (95% CI 1.7–3.3). For the different entities, the risk was 3.8 for lung cancer (95% CI 1.7–8.2), 3.2 for colorectal cancer (95% CI 1.3–7.9) and 1.9 for breast cancer (95% CI 0.7–4.7) (Table 5Go).



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Figure 1 Cumulative risk of solid tumor by time since first treatment.

 

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Table 4 Incidence by type of secondary cancer

 

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Table 5 Relative risk (RR) for the development of SC after HD treatment

 
Relation to first-line treatment modality
Irradiation in ‘extended field’ technique (EF) was administered to the involved lymph node regions as well as to all anatomical and functionally adjacent, but clinically uninvolved, regions. In contrast, the ‘involved field’ (IF) irradiation only included initially involved lymph node areas.

Chemotherapy regimens included a variety of different agents (Table 1Go) making it difficult to dissect their individual roles in the carcinogenesis of the secondary solid tumor.

Treatment consisting of radiotherapy or chemotherapy alone was rare in the group of patients with solid tumors (RT only, 11.0%; CT only, 11.8%) as well as in the group of all other patients included in the analysis (RT only, 12.9%; CT only, 11.8%) (Table 6Go).


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Table 6 Treatment modality (solid tumors and all HD patients included in the analysis)

 
Combined modality was the most commonly used treatment in both groups. A total of 77.2% of patients developing a secondary solid tumor had initial combined-modality treatment. This is very similar to the whole group where 75.4% were treated with combined modality. However, most patients (n=67; 52.8%) developing a solid tumor had received irradiation in extended field technique (EF), whereas only 39.1% in the group of all patients had EF irradiation.

The RR of developing a solid tumor was 3.3 (95% CI 2.4–4.4) for patients with combined-modality treatment with irradiation in EF technique, 2.4 (95% CI 1.7–3.3) for those treated with chemotherapy alone, 2.1 (95% CI 1.5–2.8) for radiotherapy alone and 1.6 (95% CI 1.1–2.3) for combined treatment with local radiotherapy.

There were seven patients with relapse and salvage therapy before the occurrence of secondary neoplasia.

Relation to first-line treatment modality by type of solid tumor
For patients who developed lung, colorectal and breast cancers, the combination of chemotherapy and radiotherapy was also the most commonly used treatment modality (Table 7Go). Within these groups, most of the patients developing secondary breast (n=7; 53.8%) or colorectal cancer (n=11; 57.9%) had received radiotherapy in EF technique. There was no difference for patients with secondary lung cancer concerning treatment with EF irradiation or local radiotherapy (40.0% in each group). Interestingly, all those patients developing secondary breast cancer had been treated with radiotherapy involving EF technique (n=7), IF (n=4) or radiotherapy alone (n=2).


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Table 7 Treatment modality by type of SC

 
Solid tumors within or adjacent to the initial irradiation field
In four of 13 secondary breast cancer, 12 of 30 secondary lung cancer and four of five secondary thyroid carcinoma patients, the secondary solid tumor developed within the initial irradiation field (Table 8Go).


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Table 8 Solid tumors within or adjacent to the initial irradiation field

 
Relation to age
Table 9Go lists the occurrence of selected solid tumors according to age at treatment of HD. More than half of all patients with secondary solid tumors (57.5%) were aged ≥45 years at first diagnosis of HD. Interestingly, the age ≥45 years at first treatment for secondary lung cancer (66.7%) and gastrointestinal cancer (96.2%) was significantly higher as compared with the average age of patients treated. In contrast, most patients (n=8; 61.6%) who developed secondary breast cancer were between 16 and 34 years at diagnosis/treatment of HD. In addition, all five patients developing a secondary thyroid cancer were of young age when initially treated (16, 22, 25, 26 and 26 years of age; data not shown). Very similar findings were observed when age at diagnosis of the solid tumor was compared. Age at diagnosis of the most frequent solid tumors is shown in Table 10Go. Only a very few patients with secondary lung or gastrointestinal cancers were diagnosed before the age of 45 years. In contrast, patients developing secondary breast cancer were mostly aged <34 years at diagnosis of solid tumor (n=7; 53.8%).


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Table 9 SC by age at first treatment

 

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Table 10 SC by age at diagnosis

 
Outcome of secondary solid tumors
The median OS after diagnosis of a solid tumor was 31 months (Figure 2Go). Prognosis was poor for patients who developed secondary lung cancer, 70% died within 21 months from diagnosis of secondary cancer (Table 11Go).



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Figure 2 Overall survival from solid tumor.

 

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Table 11 Prognosis of patients with SCs

 

    Discussion
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Patients and methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
From this analysis the following findings have emerged. After a median follow-up of 72 months, the cumulative risk of developing a secondary solid tumor in HD patients, according to the GHSG database, is low (2%). With a longer observation time, a more exact estimation of the cumulative risk will be possible, since the carcinogenesis of solid tumors has been demonstrated to be significantly slower than that of secondary haematological malignancies.

Lung cancer (RR 3.8), colorectal cancer (RR 3.2) and breast cancer (RR 1.9) were most frequently observed.

A considerable number of patients (52.8%) in the solid tumor group were treated with irradiation in EF technique (RR 3.3). For patients treated with a combination of chemotherapy and irradiation restricted to local fields (24.4%), RR was 1.6. These data need to be interpreted carefully due to the fact that extended field irradiation represents the older standard treatment. Consequently, observation time for patients treated with this modality is longer than for patients treated with involved field irradiation.

Several reports document the incidence of secondary solid tumors after primary HD. The cumulative risk varies between 7.8% and 23.3% at 15 to 25 years, respectively, after first-line treatment [4Go, 5Go, 11Go–14Go]. An increased overall RR ranges from 2.0 to 6.1 [11Go–13Go]. The comparatively low cumulative risk found in our analysis may be due in part to the fact that the median follow-up was only 72 months.

The comprehensive list of risk factors for the development of solid tumors after HD is difficult to determine. Disease-related immunosuppression, genetic factors, first-line treatment, age at first treatment, vulnerability of breast tissue, hormonal factors, chemotherapy-induced premature menopause, and smoking have been shown to play a role. In the literature, solid tumors are frequently related to radiotherapy as well as to combined modality treatment [11Go, 15Go, 16Go], and they often appear in or adjacent to the initial irradiation field [16Go–20Go]. This is particularly true for the development of breast cancer, where chemotherapy seems to have a protective effect [12Go, 19Go]. Most patients receiving radiotherapy as part of their treatment for HD are at higher risk of developing secondary breast cancer [11Go–13Go, 19Go]. Van Leeuwen et al. [19Go] found a chemotherapy-associated risk reduction on the development of secondary breast cancer. This observation might be related to chemotherapy-induced ovarian failure preventing ovarian hormones promoting tumorigenesis.

The role of specific chemotherapeutics in the etiology of solid tumors is unclear. The data found in previous studies concerning treatment modality do not allow for unanimous conclusions. Some studies report on an increased risk after chemotherapy alone [21Go, 22Go] whereas others found no relation to chemotherapeutic treatment [4Go, 5Go, 12Go, 16Go, 18Go, 23Go]. These discrepancies are probably related to the variety of different tumor entities. Some authors report an increased risk for the development of lung cancer after chemotherapy alone [12Go, 20Go]. In other studies, the highest RRs for development of solid tumors were observed after combined-modality treatment [13Go, 18Go, 24Go]. Swerdlow et al. found a significantly increased risk for the development of secondary gastrointestinal tumors only in patients who had received combined-modality treatment [12Go]. Several authors report on an increased RR of developing secondary solid tumors with younger age at first treatment [11Go–14Go, 16Go]. This is most obvious in female patients who develop breast cancer [11Go, 17Go, 24Go–26Go]. Early onset of menopause seems to reduce the risk of breast cancer [19Go]. Thus, mammography is recommended for female HD patients between 8 [27Go, 28Go] and 10 years [29Go] after first-line treatment.

In many studies, treatment-related solid tumors appear several years after first-line treatment and the risk remains elevated over a 15- and 20-year follow-up period [2Go, 11Go–14Go, 16Go–18Go, 24Go, 25Go, 27Go]. The increased risk remains higher than expected for up to 30 years [2Go, 3Go].

This led to speculation that solid tumors in particular are at least in part irradiation-induced late toxicities. In contrast, Travis et al. reported an increased risk of secondary lung cancer as early as 1–4 years after first-line treatment when patients received alkylating agents [30Go].

In general, the outcome of secondary solid tumors depends on tumor entity and is not different from that of primary solid tumors [27Go]. The outcome in secondary lung cancer is as poor as it is in primary lung cancer [17Go, 24Go, 30Go]. Very similar findings were observed in the present study.

In conclusion, the cumulative risk of secondary solid tumors in the GHSG trials HD1–HD9, involving 5367 patients and a median observation time of 72 months, is low (2%). Longer follow-up is needed to assess the final risk.


    Acknowledgements
 
This work was supported in part by the Deutsche Krebshilfe, the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF) and the Kompetenznetz Maligne Lymphome.

Received for publication November 23, 2003. Revision received February 29, 2004. Accepted for publication March 5, 2004.


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 Abstract
 Introduction
 Patients and methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
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