Quality control of involved-field radiotherapy in patients with advanced Hodgkin’s lymphoma (EORTC 20884)

Purpose: To evaluate the impact of the quality of involved-field radiotherapy (IFRT) on clinical outcome in patients with advanced Hodgkin’s lymphoma (HL) in complete remission (CR) after six to eight cycles of mechlorethamine, vincristine, procarbazine, prednisone-doxorubicin, bleomycin, and vinblastine (MOPP-ABV) chemotherapy. Methods and Materials: A retrospective review of clinical and radiologic data, radiation charts, simulator films, and megavoltage (MV) photographs was performed. IFRT consisted of 24 Gy to all initially involved nodal areas and 16–24 Gy to all initially involved extranodal sites. Major violations were defined as no or only partial irradiation of an originally involved area, or a total dose