A Southwest Oncology Group: chemotherapy versus chemotherapy plus radiotherapy in treatment of stage III Hodgkin's disease.

The Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG) performed a randomized study (SWOG 7518, CAR 2) of chemotherapy using ten courses of nitrogen mustard, vincristine, procarbazine, and prednisone (MOPP) plus low-dose bleomycin (LDB), versus three courses of combined therapy, MOPP + LDB plus radiotherapy (XRT) from October, 1974, to April 1980, in pathologic stage III Hodgkin's disease. The present report includes data on 136 registered patients, of whom 112 are fully or partially evaluable. At this preliminary analysis, complete remission rates are 82% for chemotherapy alone and 82% for combined treatment.