Hodgkin's disease, sometimes
called Hodgkin's lymphoma, is a cancer that starts
in lymphatic tissue. Lymphatic tissue includes the
lymph nodes and related organs that are part of the
body's immune and blood-forming systems. Lymph nodes
make and store infection-fighting white blood cells,
called lymphocytes. They are connected throughout
the body
by lymph vessels (narrow tubes similar to blood vessels).
Other components of the lymphatic system include
the spleen, the bone marrow and the thymus.
Because lymphatic tissue is present in many parts
of the body, Hodgkin's disease can start almost anywhere.
This cancer causes enlargement of the lymphatic tissue
that can then cause pressure on important structures.
Lymphomas are typically divided into two general
types: Hodgkin's disease (named after Dr. Thomas
Hodgkin who first recognized it in 1832) and non-Hodgkin's
lymphomas. The cancer cells in Hodgkin's disease
look different under a microscope from cells of non-Hodgkin's
lymphomas and other cancers. Doctors have given names
to different types of Hodgkin's disease: lymphocyte
predominance, nodular sclerosis, mixed cellularity,
lymphocyte depletion and unclassified. All of these
forms are malignant because as they grow, they can
compress, invade, destroy normal tissue and spread
to other tissues. There is no benign form of Hodgkin's
disease.
Source: American Cancer Society
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