Report of a committee convened to discuss the evaluation and staging of patients with Hodgkin's disease: Cotswolds meeting.

Abstract

The Ann Arbor classification for describing the stage of Hodgkin's disease at initial presentation has formed the basis upon which treatment is selected and has allowed comparison of results achieved by different investigators for almost two decades. A meeting was convened to review the classification and modify it in the light of experience gained in its use and new techniques for evaluating disease. It was concluded that the structure of the classification be maintained. It was particularly recommended: (1) that computed tomography (CT) be included as a technique for evaluating intrathoracic and infradiaphragmatic lymph nodes; (2) that the criteria for clinical involvement of the spleen and liver be modified to include evidence of focal defects with two imaging techniques and that abnormalities of liver function be ignored; (3) that the suffix 'X' to designate bulky disease (greater than 10 cm maximum dimension) be introduced; and (4) that a new category of response to therapy, unconfirmed/uncertain complete remission (CR[u]), be introduced to accommodate the difficulty of persistent radiological abnormalities of uncertain significance.