Table of Contents Hodgkin's Disease Risk Factors Symptoms of Hodgkins Disease Diagnosis and Staging of Hodgkin's Disease Treatment of Hodgkin's Disease Hodgkins Disease Treatment - Getting a Second Opinion Preparing for Treatment of Hodgkin's Disease Methods of Treating Hodgkin's Disease Hodgkin's Disease Clinical Trials Side Effects of Hodgkin's Disease Treatment Radiation Therapy for Hodgkin's Disease Hodgkin's Disease Treatment - Chemotherapy Nutrition During Hodgkin's Disease Treatment Recovery and Outlook Hodgkin's Disease Followup Care Support for People with Hodgkin's Disease Keeping on top of Your Condition

Methods of Treating Hodgkin's Disease

Radiation therapy and chemotherapy are the most common treatments for Hodgkin's disease, although bone marrow transplantation, peripheral stem cell transplantation, and biological therapies are being studied in clinical trials.

Radiation therapy (also called radiotherapy) is the use of high-energy rays to kill cancer cells. Depending on the stage of the disease, treatment with radiation may be given alone or with chemotherapy. Radiation therapy is local therapy; it affects cancer cells only in the treated area. Radiation treatment for Hodgkin's disease usually involves external radiation, which comes from a machine that aims the rays at a specific area of the body. External radiation does not cause the body to become radioactive. Most often, treatment is given on an outpatient basis in a hospital or clinic.

Chemotherapy is the use of drugs to kill cancer cells. Chemotherapy for Hodgkin's disease usually consists of a combination of several drugs. It may be given alone or followed by radiation therapy.

Chemotherapy is usually given in cycles: a treatment period followed by a recovery period, then another treatment period, and so on. Most anticancer drugs are given by injection into a blood vessel ( IV); some are given by mouth. Chemotherapy is a systemic therapy, meaning that the drugs enter the bloodstream and travel throughout the body.

Usually, a patient has chemotherapy as an outpatient (at the hospital, at the doctor's office, or at home). However, depending on which drugs are given and the patient's general health, a short hospital stay may be needed.