Hodgkin lymphoma (HL), formerly called Hodgkin disease (HD) may respond well to therapy. Thus, it is important to determine the stage of the disease and the histologic type of HD in order to provide the most appropriate therapy.

Hodgkin Lymphoma - Classification
TypeHistologic FeaturesFrequencyPrognosis
Nodular sclerosisBands of fibrosis, lacunar cellsMost frequent type, more common in womenGood, most are stage I or II
Mixed cellularityComposed of many different cellsMost frequent in older persons, second most frequent overallFair, most are stage III
Lymphocyte predominanceMostly B-cells and few Reed-Sternberg variant cellsUncommonGood, most are stage I or II
Lymphocyte depletionMany Reed-Sternberg cells and variantsUncommonPoor, most are stage III or IV

Hodgkin Lymphoma - Staging
StageCharacteristics
IOnly a single lymph node site or extranodal site is involved
IITwo or more lymph node sites on one side of the diaphragm are involved, or limited contiguous extranodal site involvement
IIILymph node sites on both sides of the diaphragm are involved, with splenic or limited contiguous extradodal site involvement, or both
IVExtensive involvement of extranodal sites, with or without lymph node involvement