Patients
The institutional review board of Sun Yet-Sun University Cancer Center
approved this retrospective study. We reviewed the clinical data of
eligible patients with HL who were treated at the Department of
Pediatric Oncology in Sun Yet-Sun University Cancer Center between
January 2008 and May 2019. Patients
were eligible for analysis when they fulfilled all of the following
criteria: (1) Patients were aged < 21 years and had
biopsy-proven, classic HL diagnosed according to the 2008 World Health
Organization classification19. (2) Staging was
performed according to the baseline FDG PET/CT scan results and
the
Ann Arbor staging system. (3) Interim PET/CT was performed after 2
cycles of chemotherapy (4) Post-treatment PET/CT was performed at least
3 weeks after the end of chemotherapy or 6 weeks following radiotherapy.
(5) Complete remission (CR) was achieved at the end of the first-line
treatment based on the PET/CT scan results. (6) Complete clinical data
were available, including the date of diagnosis, details of anticancer
treatment, and findings of outpatient follow-up.
Exclusion criteria: (1) Patients who were adults or diagnosed with other
types of lymphoma, patients without baseline or post-treatment PET/CT
scans, (2)Patients with refractory HL defined as progression or new
lesions on PET/CT within three months of first-line
treatment20. Patients without interim PET/CT, for
example, whose PET/CT was performed after 4–6 cycles of chemotherapy,
were also excluded. (3) Patients without interim PET/CT, for example,
whose PET/CT was performed after 4–6 cycles of chemotherapy.