HEALTH PROFESSIONAL · SOURCE READING

Chemotherapy

Source: Childhood Hodgkin Lymphoma Treatment (PDQ®)–Health Professional Version, National Cancer Institute.

Source updated: April 16, 2025 · Captured 2026-09-09.

Selected source text with whitespace normalised. This Triangle page is not an NCI PDQ summary.

Context: Treatment of Newly Diagnosed Children and Adolescents With Hodgkin Lymphoma

Many chemotherapy combinations have been used to effectively treat pediatric patients with Hodgkin lymphoma. Many of the agents in original MOPP and ABVD regimens continue to be used. Etoposide has been incorporated into some pediatric treatment regimens as an effective alternative to alkylating agents, in an effort to reduce gonadal toxicity and enhance antineoplastic activity. Current treatment approaches for pediatric patients with Hodgkin lymphoma use procarbazine-free standard backbone regimens, such as ABVE-PC in North America [20,21] and OEPA-COPDAC in Europe.[22] Both of these regimens represent dose-dense therapies that use six drugs to maximize intensity without exceeding thresholds of toxicity. In North America, pediatric patients with Hodgkin lymphoma are treated with ABVD-based regimens. However, bleomycin has been replaced by other agents (i.e., brentuximab vedotin or nivolumab), and the cardioprotectant dexrazoxane has been used to reduce the risk of late effects.

Source links and citations

Combination chemotherapy regimens used in trials are summarized in Table 6.

Source links and citations

Table 6

Table 6. Chemotherapy Regimens for Children and Adolescents With Hodgkin Lymphoma
Name	Drugs	Dosage	Route	Days
IV = intravenous; PO = oral.
aABVE-PC modifications during the P9425 study included reducing bleomycin to 5 units/m2 on day 0 and administering prednisone on days 0 to 7 (instead of days 0–9). In subsequent studies, doxorubicin dose was reduced to 25 mg/m2 in all trials, and for high-risk Hodgkin lymphoma, use of cyclophosphamide was increased to 600 mg/m2 on days 1 and 2.
COPDAC [22]	Cyclophosphamide	600 mg/m2	IV	1, 8
	Vincristine (Oncovin)	1.4 mg/m2	IV	1, 8
	Prednisone	40 mg/m2	PO	1–15
	Dacarbazine	250 mg/m2	IV	1–3
CAPDAC [63]	Brentuximab vedotin substituted for vincristine in COPDAC	1.2 mg/kg	IV	1, 8
OEPA [22]	Vincristine (Oncovin)	1.5 mg/m2	IV	1, 8, 15
	Etoposide	125 mg/m2	IV	3–6
	Prednisone	60 mg/m2	PO	1–15
	Doxorubicin (Adriamycin)	40 mg/m2	IV	1, 15
AEPA [63]	Brentuximab vedotin substituted for vincristine in OEPA	1.2 mg/kg	IV	1, 8, 15
ABVD [8]	Doxorubicin (Adriamycin)	25 mg/m2	IV	1, 15
	Bleomycin	10 units/m2	IV	1, 15
	Vinblastine	6 mg/m2	IV	1, 15
	Dacarbazine	375 mg/m2	IV	1, 15
N-AVD [30]	Doxorubicin (Adriamycin)	25 mg/m2	IV	1, 15
	Vinblastine	6 mg/m2	IV	1, 15
	Dacarbazine	375 mg/m2	IV	1, 15
	Nivolumab	Age 12–17 y: 3 mg/kg (240 mg maximum); age 18 y or older: 240 mg	IV	1, 15
ABVE-PC a [21]	Doxorubicin (Adriamycin)	30 mg/m2	IV	0, 1
	Bleomycin	10 units/m2	IV	0, 7
	Vincristine (Oncovin)	1.4 mg/m2 (maximum dose, 2.8 mg/m2)	IV	0, 7
	Etoposide	75 mg/m2	IV	0–4
	Prednisone	40 mg/m2	PO	0–9
	Cyclophosphamide	800 mg/m2	IV	0
Bv-AVE-PC (bleomycin omitted and brentuximab vedotin added to the ABVE-PC regimen) [53]	Brentuximab vedotin	1.8 mg/kg	IV	1
	Vincristine	1.4 mg/m2 (maximum dose, 2.8 mg/m2)	IV	8
BEACOPP [64]	Bleomycin	10 units/m2	IV	7
	Etoposide	200 mg/m2	IV	0–2
	Doxorubicin (Adriamycin)	35 mg/m2	IV	0
	Cyclophosphamide	1,200 mg/m2	IV	1, 8
	Vincristine (Oncovin)	2 mg/m2	IV	7
	Prednisone	40 mg/m2	PO	0–13
	Procarbazine	100 mg/m2	PO	0–6
CVP [65]	Cyclophosphamide	500 mg/m2	IV	1
	Vinblastine	6 mg/m2	IV	1, 8
	Prednisolone	40 mg/m2	PO	1–8
AV-PC [27,44]	Doxorubicin (Adriamycin)	25 mg/m2	IV	1, 2
	Vincristine	1.4 mg/m2 (maximum dose, 2.8 mg/m2)	IV	1, 8
	Prednisone	20 mg/m2	PO	1–7
	Cyclophosphamide	600 mg/m2	IV	1, 2

Source links and citations

Continue within this section

Evolution of North American cooperative and consortium trial results →Evolution of European multicenter trial results →

Publication references

Read the original reference and check its publication notices.

Preserved source evidence · Not medical advice