Hodgkin's lymphoma

Hodgkin's lymphoma, (HL) also known as Hodgkin lymphoma or Hodgkin's disease, is a type of lymphoma, in which cancer originates from a specific type of white blood cells called lymphocytes.

A history of infectious mononucleosis due to infection by Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) may increase risk of HL, but the precise contribution of Epstein–Barr virus remains largely unknown. Hodgkin lymphoma is characterized by the orderly spread of disease from one lymph node group to another and by the development of systemic symptoms with advanced disease. When Hodgkins cells are examined microscopically, multinucleated Reed–Sternberg cells (RS cells) are the characteristic histopathologic finding.

Hodgkin lymphoma may be treated with radiation therapy, chemotherapy, or hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, with the choice of treatment depending on the age and sex of the patient and the stage, bulk, and histological subtype of the disease. The overall five-year survival rate for adults in the United States for 2004–2010 is 85%. For children and adolescents (2003-2009), the five-year survival rate is 97%. There have been many cases of individuals living over 40 years after diagnosis. However, few studies follow people living for periods as long as 25 years, and those studies are of older treatments with more life-threatening adverse effects. There is insufficient data available about the long-term outcomes of newer, less-toxic regimens and ones which limit radiation exposure. Radiation treatments, and some chemotherapy drugs, pose a risk of causing potentially fatal secondary cancers, heart disease, and lung disease 40 or more years later. Modern treatments greatly minimise the chances of these late effects.