A trial looking at radiotherapy treatment for non Hodgkin lymphoma

The trial team found that there was no difference between the lower dose of radiotherapy and the standard dose for treating non Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL).

This trial recruited 998 people.  It was a randomised trial. The people taking part were put into 1 of 2 groups.  The groups were those having

• Standard dose of radiotherapy
• Lower dose of radiotherapy   

If their NHL was in more than 1 area of the body, the trial team were allowed to randomise these people again. This is because they could have radiotherapy to more than 1 area of the body. This happened to 3 people. So the total number of results the trial team looked at was 1,001.

Of the 1,001 results the trial team looked at

• For  783 there was no sign of NHL – complete response
• In 95 the NHL had got smaller – partial response
• In 75 the NHL had stayed the same or got worse
• 7 could not be assessed
• In 27 the results were missing

Ten people didn’t have radiotherapy and sadly 4 people died from their NHL.  

The trial team found no significant difference between the side effects of the 2 groups, apart from reddening or darkening of the skin in the treatment area.  This was less for people who had the lower dose of radiotherapy.

The trial team concluded that a lower dose of radiotherapy was as good as the standard dose of radiotherapy for treating non Hodgkin lymphoma.

We have based this summary on information from the team who ran the trial. The information they sent us has been reviewed by independent specialists (peer reviewed ) and published in a medical journal. The figures we quote above were provided by the trial team. We have not analysed the data ourselves