Survival by age in pediatric and adolescent patients with Hodgkin lymphoma in COG trials

Adolescents with classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) have worse disease outcomes than children. Whether these differences persist within clinical trials is unknown. A retrospective pooled analysis of three Children’s Oncology Group trials found that adolescents (≥ 15 years) had worse event-free survival and increased risk of death compared with children (< 15 years). The unadjusted 5-year EFS was 80% among adolescents versus 86% among children (HR 1.38; p=0.0038) and the unadjusted 5-year OS was 96% among adolescents versus 99% among children (HR 2.50; p=0.0012). The authors conclude that these findings highlight the need for prospective studies to examine tumor and host biology, and to test novel therapies across the age spectrum.