Hodgkin’s disease is a type of cancer in which the lymph nodes become enlarged (see Lymphatic system ). It is also called Hodgkin’s lymphoma . Other lymphoid tissues, such as the spleen, also may become swollen. Most victims of Hodgkin’s disease are 20 to 40 years old. The disease, which strikes more men than women, may be fatal. Its cause is unknown.
Beginning in the 1960’s, medical researchers discovered much about Hodgkin’s disease and how to control or even conquer it. They learned that the disease (1) spreads in a fairly predictable way from one group of lymph nodes to the next; (2) takes a relatively long time to spread to other areas of the body; (3) can usually be treated successfully with radiation in early stages; and (4) can often be treated successfully with drugs in advanced stages. Hodgkin’s disease resembles other diseases that also cause swelling of the lymph nodes. Physicians identify the condition by the presence in the swollen tissue of large cells called Reed-Sternberg cells. Most of these large cells have two nuclei. Hodgkin’s disease was first described by Thomas Hodgkin, an English physician, in 1832.
