Sixty-three patients with relapsed advanced Hodgkin's disease were treated with lomustine (CCNU), vindesine and bleomycin (LVB). Age range was 17-72 years, with 38 males and 25 females. Thirty patients achieved complete remission (CR) with a median duration of 24+ months (range 3-55). Nineteen continue in unmaintained CR. CR rates were highest for those patients who relapsed greater than 6 months after first line treatment and for those at second or subsequent relapse. CR rates were higher in those with nodal only relapse. Twenty-seven patients were non-responders and six were partial responders. These 33 patients were subsequently changed to alternative chemotherapeutic regimes and 26 failed to respond to any therapy and have since died. Only one patient is in unmaintained complete remission. The regimen was well tolerated by patients, and easy to administer. It produced no serious episodes of toxicity. We conclude that LVB is of value in the management of relapsed advanced Hodgkin's disease especially in chronic relapsing patients, and where relapse occurs greater than 6 months after the first line treatment. We are presently unsure whether it offers any advantage over reintroduction of first line treatment in the latter group.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Childhood melanoma in Australia.

Data from a population-based registry, the Australian Paediatric Cancer Registry, were used to determine the incidence of malignant melanoma in children under 15 years of age in Australia. Over a 17-year period, 217 cases were identified. For the period 1977-89 inclusive, the annual age incidence was 0.34 per 100,000. There was some variation in incidence between the different states with Queensland recording the highest incidence at 0.97 per 100,000, the highest reported incidence in the world for childhood melanoma. Most of the cases occurred in children aged 13 or 14 years old with girls affected slightly more often, the sex ratio being 0.92. There was a statistically significant seasonal variation with fewer cases being diagnosed during the winter months. The commonest site was the trunk. Two of the cases were second neoplasms. This series demonstrates the need for increased education of children living in tropical and subtropical regions about the dangers of sun exposure and of methods of reducing exposure. Children who have undergone chemotherapy appear to be at particular risk.

Adolescent↗