Cancer Health Center

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Clinical Presentation

Approximately 80% of patients present with painless adenopathy, commonly in the supraclavicular or cervical area. Enlarged nodes are generally firm and have a rubbery texture. Mediastinal disease is present in about 75% of adolescents and young adults, and may be asymptomatic. In contrast, only about 35% of young children with Hodgkin lymphoma have mediastinal presentation, in part, reflecting the tendency of these patients to have either mixed cellularity or lymphocyte-predominant histology. Approximately 25% of patients may have systemic symptoms such as fever, night sweats, and weight loss that are secondary to release of lymphokines and cytokines by R-S cells. Approximately 20% of patients will have bulky adenopathy (maximum mediastinal diameter greater than one-third of the chest diameter and/or a node or nodal aggregate larger than 10 cm). Approximately 80% to 85% of children and adolescents with Hodgkin lymphoma have involvement of lymph nodes and/or the spleen only (stages I-III). The remaining 15% to 20% of patients will have noncontiguous extranodal involvement (stage IV). The most common sites of extranodal involvement are the lung, liver, bones, and bone marrow.[18,19]

References:

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