Hodgkin's Lymphoma: Overview and Information

Introduction

Defining Hodgkin's Disease

Hodgkin's lymphoma, formerly known as Hodgkin's disease, is a cancer of the lymphatic system, part of your immune system. Hodgkin's 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 in the United States from 2004 to 2010 is 85%.

The U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) has included Adult Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma as a Compassionate Allowance to expedite a disability claim.

Main Document

Thomas Hodgkin (1798-1866) was an English Scholar who became famous for his research on the disease, and it was named for him. The disease was first written about in 1666 by Malpighi. Still, it was Thomas Hodgkin's article in 1832 titled, 'On Some Morbid Appearances of the Absorbent Glands and Spleen' where cases of Hodgkin's Lymphoma became documented clearly.

Other forms of lymphomas are classified as 'Non-Hodgkin's' and happen more often than Hodgkin's Lymphoma.

Hodgkin's Lymphoma is unique because of the presence of cells that are referred to as 'Reed-Sternberg' cells around the malignancy. These cells, along with other forms, are specific to Hodgkin's Disease and appear different under a microscope from other non-Hodgkin's lymphomas and other cancer cells. Reed-Sternberg cells are something that doctors believe to be a kind of B-lymphocyte malignancy; normal B-lymphocytes are the form of cells that human antibodies use to fight off infections.

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Lymphatic tissues are present in several parts of the human body, and Hodgkin's Disease can begin nearly anywhere. Hodgkin's malignancies enlarge lymphatic tissues, then create pressure upon important structures. Cancerous cells can spread around lymphatic tissues and into vessels that support them, and upon getting into the blood vessels, can spread to other sites in the human body such as the lungs or liver; although this is not as common.

There are various reasons that lymphatic tissue can become enlarged, one of which is Hodgkin's Disease. More commonly, it is because the body is fighting off some form of infection, and Hodgkin's Disease is difficult to diagnose. Unfortunately, there is no non-cancerous or benign form of Hodgkin's Disease. Hodgkin's Disease does not pose a risk to others once a person has it.

Hodgkin's lymphoma must be distinguished from non-cancerous causes of lymph node swelling (such as various infections) and other types of cancer. Definitive diagnosis is lymph node biopsy (usually excisional biopsy with microscopic examination). Blood tests are also performed to assess major organs' function and safety for chemotherapy. Positron emission tomography (PET) detect small deposits that do not show on CT scanning. PET scans are also useful in functional imaging (by using radio-labeled glucose to image tissues of high metabolism). Sometimes, a Gallium Scan may be used instead of a PET scan.

Facts and Statistics

• The appearance of Hodgkin's Disease in children under five years old is very rare, and for children under ten years of age, Hodgkin's Disease is more common for boys than girls.
• Around 10 to 15% of every case of Hodgkin's Disease occurs in children under sixteen.
• The largest age group of people who are diagnosed with Hodgkin's Disease are young adults or those in the age range of fifteen through forty years of age; most commonly those who are twenty-five to thirty years old, or people who are in late adulthood - older than fifty-five.
• In the year 2000, the American Cancer Society estimated that about 7,400 new cases of Hodgkin's Disease would be diagnosed in the United States. Of these cases, 3,200 of them would occur in women, and 4,200 in men.
• The Leukemia Society of America estimates that male siblings of Hodgkin's patients are at a slightly higher risk of developing Hodgkin's Disease, even if it does remain a rare occurrence.
• An estimated 1,400 people died of Hodgkin's Disease in America in 2000.
• Improved treatment of Hodgkin's Disease has caused the death rates to fall by over sixty percent since the early 1970s.
• The American Cancer Society states that the one-year survival rate after treatment of Hodgkin's Disease is now at 93% and that the five-year rate is at 82%.
• The ten-year survival rate, according to them, is now at 72%.
• At fifteen years, the survival rate stands at 63%.
• The main cause of death for persons with Hodgkin's Disease is a recurrence of it. Death due to other causes is most common for people who have survived the fifteen to twenty-year mark.

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