Publications by authors named "John M M Raemaekers"

Purpose: Studies looking into the concordance between late effects reported by physicians vs. those reported by Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) survivors are missing.

Methods: A Life Situation Questionnaire focusing on late effects collected data from 1230 HL survivors (median follow-up 14.

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Background: Disease-specific studies on the impact of Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) on education or work interruption and resumption are lacking.

Material And Methods: In a cross-sectional study conducted among long-term HL survivors enrolled from 1964 to 2004 in nine randomised EORTC-LYSA trials, the interruption and resumption of education/work was investigated. Survivors alive 5-44 years after diagnosis who were studying or working at time of diagnosis were included ( = 1646).

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In the H10 and RAPID randomised trials, chemotherapy+radiotherapy (combined modalities treatment, CMT) was compared with chemotherapy (C) in limited-stage Hodgkin lymphoma (HL), with negative early positron emission tomography (ePETneg). We analysed patterns of relapses in the H10 trial, validated findings in the RAPID trial and performed a combined analysis stratified by trial. The impact of radiotherapy (RT) on risk of relapse was studied using adjusted Cox models, with time-varying effects.

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Purpose: Little is known about the employment situation of long-term Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) survivors despite their young age at diagnosis and the favorable prognosis of the disease. In this cross-sectional study, we aim to describe the employment situation in a cohort of long-term HL survivors compared to the general population and investigate the associations with disease characteristics and treatment exposure.

Methods: HL survivors > 25 years (n = 1961) were matched 1:25 to controls (n = 49,025) from the European Union Labour Force Survey.

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Article Synopsis
  • The H9-U trial aimed to determine the best chemotherapy regimen and number of cycles for early-stage Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) with risk factors by comparing three treatment modalities followed by involved-field radiotherapy (IFRT).
  • The trial included 808 patients, ages 15-70, who were randomized to receive either 6-ABVD-IFRT, 4-ABVD-IFRT, or 4-BEACOPP-IFRT; results indicated that the experimental regimens were comparable in terms of 5-year event-free survival rates.
  • While 4-ABVD and 4-BEACOPP had similar survival outcomes to 6-ABVD, the BEAC
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Background: Second primary malignancies are a major cause of excess morbidity and mortality in cancer survivors. Hodgkin lymphoma survivors who were treated with infradiaphragmatic radiotherapy and/or high-dose procarbazine have an increased risk to develop colorectal cancer. Colonoscopy surveillance plays an important role in colorectal cancer prevention by removal of the precursor lesions (adenomas) and early detection of cancer, resulting in improved survival rates.

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Background: Survivors of Hodgkin's lymphoma are at increased risk for treatment-related subsequent malignant neoplasms. The effect of less toxic treatments, introduced in the late 1980s, on the long-term risk of a second cancer remains unknown.

Methods: We enrolled 3905 persons in the Netherlands who had survived for at least 5 years after the initiation of treatment for Hodgkin's lymphoma.

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Only 50% of patients with relapsed Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) can be cured with intensive induction chemotherapy, followed by high-dose chemotherapy (HDCT) and autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT). Based on the results of the HDR2 trial two courses of DHAP and subsequent HDCT/ASCT are the current standard of care in relapsed HL. In order to assess the prognostic relevance of DHAP dose density, we performed a retrospective multivariate analysis of the HDR2 trial (N=266).

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The Dutch BETER consortium has established a national care infrastructure for Hodgkin lymphoma survivors. 'BETER' [the Dutch word for 'better'] stands for Better care after Hodgkin lymphoma (HL): Evaluation of long-term Treatment Effects and screening Recommendations. The survivorship care focuses on long-term effects of HL treatment.

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Importance: Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) survivors are at increased risk of cardiovascular diseases. It is unclear, however, how long the increased risk persists and what the risk factors are for various cardiovascular diseases.

Objectives: To examine relative and absolute excess risk up to 40 years since HL treatment compared with cardiovascular disease incidence in the general population and to study treatment-related risk factors for different cardiovascular diseases.

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Purpose: Recently, an increased risk of diabetes mellitus (DM) was observed after abdominal irradiation for childhood cancer. Because many Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) survivors have also been treated with infradiaphragmatic radiotherapy, we evaluated the association between HL treatment and DM risk.

Patients And Methods: Our study cohort comprised 2,264 5-year HL survivors, diagnosed before age 51 years and treated between 1965 and 1995.

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We assessed risk, localization, and timing of third malignancies in Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) survivors. In a cohort of 3122 5-year HL survivors diagnosed before the age of 51 years and treated between 1965 and 1995, we examined whether risk factors for second and third malignancies differ and whether the occurrence of a second malignancy affects the risk of subsequent malignancies, using recurrent event analyses. After a median follow-up of 22.

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Purpose: Combined-modality treatment is standard treatment for patients with clinical stage I/II Hodgkin lymphoma (HL). We hypothesized that an early positron emission tomography (PET) scan could be used to adapt treatment. Therefore, we started the randomized EORTC/LYSA/FIL Intergroup H10 trial evaluating whether involved-node radiotherapy (IN-RT) could be omitted without compromising progression-free survival in patients attaining a negative early PET scan after two cycles of ABVD (doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine) as compared with standard combined-modality treatment.

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Background And Purpose: This retrospective study investigated whether focused involved node radiation therapy (INRT) can safely replace involved field RT (IFRT) in patients with early stage aggressive NHL.

Patients And Methods: We included 258 patients with stage I/II aggressive NHL who received combined modality treatment (87%) or primary RT alone (13%). RT consisted of a total dose of 30-40 Gy in 15-20 fractions IFRT or INRT.

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Abstract Correct histological classification of malignant lymphomas is important but has always been a difficult challenge. Since 2001 the World Health Organization (WHO) classification has been used, which should make it easier to define distinct disease entities. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of a panel of expert hematopathologists in reviewing the diagnosis of malignant lymphomas and to examine whether the discordance between primary and panel diagnoses has declined throughout the years.

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Purpose: We investigated the impact of Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) on parenthood, including factors influencing parenthood probability, by comparing long-term HL survivors with matched general population controls.

Patients And Methods: A Life Situation Questionnaire was sent to 3,604 survivors treated from 1964 to 2004 in successive clinical trials. Responders were matched with controls (1:3 or 4) for sex, country, education, and year of birth (10-year groups).

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Purpose: In this large cohort of Hodgkin's lymphoma survivors with long follow-up, we estimated the impact of treatment regimens on premature ovarian failure (POF) occurrence and motherhood, including safety of nonalkylating chemotherapy and dose-response relationships for alkylating chemotherapy and age at treatment.

Patients And Methods: The Life Situation Questionnaire was sent to 1,700 women treated in European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer and Groupe d'Étude des Lymphomes de l'Adulte trials between 1964 and 2004. Women treated between ages 15 and 40 years and currently not using hormonal contraceptives (n = 460) were selected to assess occurrence of POF.

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Purpose: We determined the potential value of protein profiling of tissue samples by assessing how precise this approach enables discrimination of B-cell lymphoma from reactive lymph nodes, and how well the profiles can be used for lymphoma classification.

Experimental Design: Protein lysates from lymph nodes (n=239) from patients with the diagnosis of reactive hyperplasia (n=44), follicular lymphoma (n=63), diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (n=43), mantle cell lymphoma (n=47), and chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic B-cell lymphoma (n=42) were analysed by SELDI-TOF MS. Data analysis was performed by (i) classification and regression tree-based analysis and (ii) binary and polytomous logistic regression analysis.

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Background: Although widely recommended, cryopreservation of sperm is sometimes not performed for patients with Hodgkin's lymphoma because of presumed poor sperm quality related to the disease. We investigated sperm quality and factors determining it in untreated patients with early stage Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Design And Methods: Of 2362 males who participated in EORTC H6-H9 trials, 474 (20%) had data available.

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Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma comprises many related but distinct diseases and diagnosis and classification is complex. Protein profiling of lymphoma biopsies may be of potential value for use in this lymphoma classification and the discovery of novel markers. In this study, we have optimized a method for SELDI-TOF MS based protein profiling of frozen tissue sections, without dissection of tumour cells.

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Background: Treatment of early-stage Hodgkin's disease is usually tailored in line with prognostic factors that allow for reductions in the amount of chemotherapy and extent of radiotherapy required for a possible cure.

Methods: From 1993 to 1999, we identified 1538 patients (age, 15 to 70 years) who had untreated stage I or II supradiaphragmatic Hodgkin's disease with favorable prognostic features (the H8-F trial) or unfavorable features (the H8-U trial). In the H8-F trial, we compared three cycles of mechlorethamine, vincristine, procarbazine, and prednisone (MOPP) combined with doxorubicin, bleomycin, and vinblastine (ABV) plus involved-field radiotherapy with subtotal nodal radiotherapy alone (reference group).

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Purpose: To analyze fertility in male patients treated with various combinations of radiotherapy and chemotherapy, with or without alkylating agents, or with radiotherapy alone for Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Patients And Methods: Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) levels were measured in patients with early-stage upper-diaphragmatic disease enrolled in four European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) trials (H6-H9). Median follow-up after therapy was 32 months.

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Background And Objectives: In follicular lymphoma histological grading is used to predict clinical behavior and to stratify patients for treatment. However, the reproducibility of histological grading is poor and the clinical significance of the difference between grade 1 and grade 2 follicular lymphoma is unclear. Data on proliferation characteristics with respect to prognosis in follicular lymphoma are inconsistent.

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