Blood
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Due to disease rarity, there is limited information regarding the optimal therapy and outcome for patients with advanced-stage nodular lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin lymphoma (NLPHL). Forty-two patients with NLPHL by the Revised European-American Lymphoma/World Health Organization classification with advanced-stage disease were identified and paired 1:2 with a matched control with classical Hodgkin lymphoma (CHL) matched by age, gender, stage, decade of diagnosis, and treatment received. ⋯ Although the 10-year overall survival (OS) (P = .579) and HL freedom from treatment failure (HL-FFTF) were similar between NLPHL and CHL patients (75% vs 73%; P = .610), the time to progression (TTP), which also includes the development of secondary aggressive lymphoma, was inferior in NLPHL (10-year, 63% vs 73%; P = .040). Splenic involvement was associated with an inferior 10-year TTP in patients treated with ABVD (48% vs 71%; P = .049) and an increased cumulative incidence of secondary aggressive lymphoma (P = .014) providing a rationale for further evaluation of cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (CHOP) with rituximab in NLPHL.