Library · Neoplasm
Hodgkin lymphoma
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Hodgkin lymphoma is a cancer of the lymphoid tissue, the tissue of the body's defense system. It is uncommon, it is monoclonal, meaning that all the malignant cells come from a single one, and it has high cure rates.
What identifies it under the microscope is a cell with a name of its own: the Reed-Sternberg cell. It is huge and multinucleated, that is, it has several nuclei, and two of them sit as if they were looking at each other in a mirror. Around it there is no other tumor tissue: there is a background of reactive cells, normal defense cells that came to the site.
Where that cell comes from is known as well: from germinal center B lymphocytes, the germinal center being the area of the lymph node where lymphocytes learn to recognize an invader. And the disease usually starts in the lymph nodes of the neck, the cervical nodes.
Among all lymphomas, Hodgkin accounts for about 11% in the United States. Its distribution by age is bimodal, that is, it has two peaks instead of one.
In brief
Hodgkin lymphoma is an uncommon monoclonal lymphoid neoplasm with high cure rates.
Its hallmark cell is the Reed-Sternberg cell: large, multinucleated, with two mirror-image nuclei, set against a reactive cellular background.
A huge cell with two nuclei facing each other, surrounded by cells that are not the tumor.
It arises from germinal center B lymphocytes and usually starts in the cervical lymph nodes.
It accounts for 11% of lymphomas in the United States, and its age distribution is bimodal.
Sources (1)
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, StatPearls PublishingHodgkin Lymphoma, StatPearlsPublished
This page explains the topic in general terms; it does not tell anyone what treatment to follow.
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