Lymphomas and hematologic malignancies

Hodgkin's disease is now curable in the vast majority of patients. Fifty years ago the median survival time of patients with Hodgkin's disease, when untreated, was under one year. Since then, overall cure rate improved from something less than 20% to over 75%. Improved cure rates are largely the result of a better understanding of the natural progression of the disease, better diagnosis and staging, improved radiation therapy equipment (allowing the delivery of higher doses with less morbidity), improved radiation field design, and the development of effective combination chemotherapy. Current treatment techniques are sophisticated and require much attention to detail to minimize failures and complications