Bone marrow transplants are being studied in clinical trials for certain patients. Radiation therapy given to the neck, chest, and lymph nodes under the arms is called radiation therapy to the mantle. Radiation therapy given to the mantle and to the lymph nodes in the upper abdomen, the spleen, and the lymph nodes in the pelvis is called total nodal irradiation. Radiation therapy may be used alone or in addition to chemotherapy.
Chemotherapy is the use of drugs to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors.
Chemotherapy may be taken by pill, or it may be put into the body by inserting a needle into a vein or muscle. Chemotherapy is called a systemic treatment because the drugs enter the bloodstream, travel through the body, and can kill cancer cells throughout the body. Bone marrow transplantation is a newer type of treatment. Sometimes Hodgkin's disease becomes resistant to treatment with radiation therapy or chemotherapy. Very high doses of chemotherapy may then be used to treat the cancer.