Patterns of care for Hodgkin's disease were surveyed through voluntary audits of hospitals with cancer programs approved by the Cancer Commission of the American College of Surgeons. Four hundred seventy-three hospitals reported 6314 patients in the long-term survey (patients diagnosed immediately preceding December 31, 1975), and 611 hospitals identified 3168 new patients in the short-term study (patients diagnosed immediately following January 1, 1981). The latter represent 45% of the estimated annual incidence in the United States. Comparison of the two studies showed changes in the procedures employed in staging, including an increased use of lung and abdominal computed tomography and bilateral bone marrow biopsies. Use of upper mantle plus periaortic node radiotherapy increased, whereas the inverted-Y field decreased. The use of single-agent chemotherapy decreased, and MOPP (nitrogen mustard, vincristine, procarbazine, and prednisone) chemotherapy increased. The survival rates varied with age, being better at younger ages and worse in the elderly.

Patterns of care for Hodgkin's disease in the United States were surveyed through voluntary audits of hospitals with cancer programs nonapproved and approved by the Cancer Commission of the American College of Surgeons. Four hundred and seventy-three hospitals reported 6,345 patients diagnosed immediately preceding December 31, 1975. The survival rates varied with age, being better at younger ages and worse in the elderly. By pathologic stage, the younger patients faired better than the elderly in each stage grouping. Histologic type was not a factor in this poor prognosis. Hodgkin's disease in elderly patients has a different biologic behavior than in younger patients.