Indeed, Hodgkin himself did not view his contribution as particularly significant.In 1856, Samuel Wilks independently reported on a series of patients with the same disease that Hodgkin had previously described. Wilks, a successor to Hodgkin at Guys Hospital, was unaware of Hodgkins prior work on the subject. Bright informed Wilks of Hodgkins contribution and in 1865, Wilks published a second paper, entitled "Cases of enlargement of the lymphatic glands and spleen", in which he named the illness "Hodgkins disease" in honor of his predecessor.Theodor Langhans and WS Greenfield first described the microscopic characteristics of Hodgkin lymphoma in 1872 and 1878, respectively. In 1898 and 1902, respectively, Carl Sternberg and Dorothy Reed independently described the cytogenetic features of the malignant cells of Hodgkin lymphoma, now called Reed–Sternberg cells.Tissue specimens from Hodgkins seven cases were preserved at Guys Hospital. Nearly 100 years after Hodgkins initial publication, histopathologic reexamination confirmed Hodgkin lymphoma in only three of seven of these people. The remaining cases included non-Hodgkin lymphoma, tuberculosis, and syphilis.Hodgkin lymphoma was one of the first cancers to be treated successfully with radiation therapy and, later, it was one of the first to be treated by combination chemotherapy. Notable cases
Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma in 1982. He later died from non-Hodgkin lymphoma, on October 15, 2018. Eric Berry, All-Pro strong safety for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League, diagnosed in 2014. Howard Carter, Egyptologist and discoverer of the Tomb of Tutankhamun, died in 1939 from Hodgkins disease.
Definitive diagnosis is by lymph node biopsy (usually excisional biopsy with microscopic examination). Blood tests are also performed to assess function of major organs and to assess safety for chemotherapy. Positron emission tomography (PET) is used to detect small deposits that do not show on CT scanning. PET scans are also useful in functional imaging (by using a radiolabeled glucose to image tissues of high metabolism). In some cases, a gallium scan may be used instead of a PET scan. Types
There are two main types of Hodgkin lymphoma: classic Hodgkin lymphoma and nodular lymphocyte predominant Hodgkin lymphoma. The prevalence of classic Hodgkin lymphoma and nodular lymphocyte Hodgkin lymphoma are approximately 90% and 10%, respectively. The morphology, phenotype, molecular features, and, therefore, the clinical behaviour and presentation of the two types differ. Classic
Classic Hodgkin lymphoma (excluding nodular lymphocyte predominant Hodgkin lymphoma) can be subclassified into four pathologic subtypes based upon Reed–Sternberg cell morphology and the composition of the reactive cell infiltrate seen in the lymph node biopsy specimen (the cell composition around the Reed–Sternberg cell(s)). Presence of EBV in Reed-Sternberg cells is most commonly found in the subtypes lymphocyte depleted HL (>70%) and mixed cellularity HL (70%), whilst being less prevalent in lymphocyte-rich HL (40%) and relatively uncommon by comparison in nodular sclerosing HL. For the other forms, although the traditional B-cell markers (such as CD20) are not expressed on all cells, Reed–Sternberg cells are usually of B cell origin.