Hodgkin's disease in the first decade of life.

Abstract

This report is based on a study of 35 children with Hodgkin9s disease. The longest survival periods were 9.8 years in a patient who has expired and 9 years in a patient who is still alive. Fourteen patients are still alive at the time of submission of this paper; the survival periods range from 0.2 to 9 years; 11 are known dead and their survival periods range from 0.3 to 9.8 years. The outcome in 10 cases is not known. A striking predominance of males was noted (91%). In 30 of 31 classifiable cases, the histologic sections showed either nodular sclerosing Hodgkin9s disease or Hodgkin9s disease with lymphocytic predominance. Regardless of classification, a striking preponderance of mature lymphocytes in tissue sections was evident in most cases. These findings suggest that a particular host response characterizes the disease in the young.