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About Hodgkins Disease

Hodgkin's disease is a form of cancer that affects the lymphatic system. The disease causes lymph tissue to grow abnormally and sometimes spread to surrounding areas. With early treatment, success in curing Hodgkin's disease is very high. Thomas Hodgkin, the British physician the disease is named after, first described Hodgkin's disease in 1832 and wrote about the characteristics that made it different from other lymphomas.

  1. Symptoms

    • Symptoms of Hodgkin's disease include swelling of the lymph nodes in the neck, armpit, and groin that is not painful, itchy skin, and flu like symptoms such as fever, chills, fatigue, night sweats, weight loss and lack of appetite.

    Diagnosis

    • Hodgkin's disease is usually diagnosed with by biopsy where a small piece of infected tissue is extracted and examined to determine cause. Other procedures used to detect Hodgkin's disease can include x-ray, MRI, PET and CAT scans, bone marrow biopsy, blood tests and radioactive Gallium scan, which tells areas in the body where the disease is present.

    Stages

    • The medical community use stages to describe disease severity. Stage 1 means only one lymph node or a single organ is infected. Stage 2 means cancer is present in two nodes, but is only in one part of the body: above or below the diaphragm. Stage 3 means cancer is present in lymph nodes in parts of the body above and below the diaphragm, but hasn't spread to surrounding organs. Stage 4 is the most advanced and means Hodgkin's cancer is present in lymph nodes and other areas such as the liver and bone marrow.

    Risk Factors

    • People who have had Epstein-Barr infection, HIV or AIDS, or anything that suppresses the immune system are at greater risk of developing Hodgkin's disease. Men and anyone with a sibling who has Hodgkin's disease are also at greater risk, along with those between the ages of 15 and 40, or over age 55.

    Treatment

    • Radiation is the most common treatment when Hodgkin's disease is limited to one area of the body. The lymph nodes that are already infected, and the next section of nodes, are radiated. The length of treatment is determined by the severity of disease.
      Chemotherapy is the treatment used when Hodgkin's disease has spread to more than one section of lymph nodes and other organs.
      The last course of treatment for recurrent infection is high doses of chemotherapy, bone marrow, and stem cell transplantation.

    Considerations

    • High doses of chemotherapy destroy bone marrow, so bone marrow and stem cells are taken from the individual before chemo treatment and stored to use afterward. Risks associated with regular doses of chemotherapy include lung, heart and liver damage and leukemia. Radiation poses the risk of developing breast or lung cancer. Girls and women under 30 are not allowed to have radiation therapy because the risk of breast cancer is too high.

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