The disease is classified as favorable if there are no large masses.
Standard Treatment Formerly, patients underwent staging laparotomy and the radiotherapy or chemotherapy based on its findings. This approach may still be used occasionally for selected patients. Most doctors now recommend either radiotherapy alone if the disease is quite localized or brief chemotherapy followed by radiotherapy.
Investigational alternatives include radiotherapy plus mild chemotherapy or combination chemotherapy such as ABVD (doxorubicin + bleomycin + vinblastine + dacarbazine [DTIC]), VBM (vinblastine + bleomycin + methotrexate) or NOVP (mitoxantrone + vincristine + vinblastine + prednisone).
Five-Year Survival About 90 percent
Stage IB and IIB "Favorable"
Standard Treatment Combination chemotherapy programs are the treatment of choice. Those commonly used include:
MOPP (mechlorethamine [nitrogen mustard] + vincristine + procarbazine + prednisone), ABVD, a MOPP-ABV hybrid (without dacarbazine) and alternating cycles of MOPP and ABVD.