ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the clinical and histologic findings of Hodgkin’s disease (HD). It summarizes the results of immunologic and molecular studies of HD. However, from a pathologic standpoint, the R. J. Lukes and J. J. Butler classification is more helpful in understanding histologic findings in HD. Since Lukes and Butler classification systems were proposed, it has become apparent that lymphocytic predominance (LP) HD is clinically and immunophenotypically distinct from the other categories of HD, collectively referred to as the “classical” subtypes of HD. About 60% of all patients with HD have nodular sclerosis (NS), and it is the most common type of HD in those younger than age 50. Clinical follow-up studies have shown that patients with interfollicular HD may relapse with neoplasms that are histologically more characteristic of either mixed cellularity HD or NSHD. Thus, a diagnosis of primary extranodal HD in immunocompetent patients should be made cautiously.
