Lymphoma is a type of cancer that develops in the white blood cells called lymphocytes in the lymphatic system. The two primary kinds of lymphoma are as follows:
- Hodgkin’s lymphoma
- Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL)
Hodgkin’s lymphoma
Hodgkin’s lymphoma (also called Hodgkin’s disease) is one of the two main types of lymphoma. Lymphoma is a type of cancer that affects the lymphatic system.
To understand lymphomas and the lymph system better, read the article What is lymphoma?
Hodgkin’s lymphoma affects more than 8,000 people annually in the United States.
How did it get its name?
Hodgkin’s disease is named after Thomas Hodgkin, a remarkable doctor who worked at the Guys Hospital in London in the first part of the nineteenth century. Among his many achievements was recognising this condition as a unique disease and not an infection as most people thought it was. A few decades later, other experts gave the disease its name to honour his contribution.
Symptoms of Hodgkin’s Lymphoma:
Hodgkin’s lymphoma commonly affects young people. The commonest symptom is enlarged lymph nodes.
Lymph nodes are enlarged in the neck, armpits, groin, or within the chest.
Apart from enlarged nodes, those with lymphoma may have weight loss, fever, itching, and drenching sweats at night.
How is Hodgkin’s identified?
A Hodgkin’s lymphoma is identified from a lymph node biopsy. What helps the pathologist looking at the node under the microscope identify Hodgkin’s disease is the presence of the Reed-Sternberg cell.
This is the cancer cell of Hodgkin’s disease, and it looks rather like an owl under the microscope. When these cells are present, the pathologist can differentiate Hodgkin’s from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and other benign conditions.
The pathologist also identifies the type of lymphoma.
There are four types of Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and they are often quite different in terms of prognosis and treatment options.
What happens after a Hodgkin’s lymphoma diagnosis?
After Hodgkin’s is diagnosed from the lymph node biopsy, a series of tests are performed for lymphoma staging and prognostic factors. Patients are then treated with chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or both treatments. See the article on Treatment Options for Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.
Many of these individuals are diagnosed while their disease is in an early stage and are cured. Even when the disease is advanced, effective long-term control is often possible.
What is Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma?
Non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL) are a very common type of lymphoma. A lymphoma is a cancer of the lymphatic system. The lymph system is a very important organ system that protects our body from infections. To understand lymphomas and the lymph system better, read the article What is lymphoma?
Believe it or not, the name Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma literally means all those lymphomas that are not Hodgkin’s lymphomas.
Non-Hodgkin lymphomas are the more common type of lymphoma. NHL affects nearly 60,000 people in the United States each year, and the number may be increasing.
It is not a single disease. In fact, it is a group of related lymph system cancers of more than twenty types. Though they are all cancers of lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell, they behave differently and may have different treatment options and outcomes.
