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Hodgkin's disease is a group of cancers characterized by Reed-Sternberg cells in an appropriate reactive cellular background. The nature of the malignant cell is well known.
Clinical Findings
There is a bimodal age distribution, with one peak in the 20s and a second peak over age 50. Most patients present because of a painless lymphadenopathy.
An important clinical feature of Hodgkin's disease is its tendency to arise within lymph node areas and to spread in an orderly fashion to contiguous areas of lymph nodes. Only late in the course of the disease.
Treatment
Patients with localized disease (stages IA, IIA) are treated with radiation therapy. Patients with disseminated disease (IIIB, IV) are treated with aggressive combination chemotherapy. The treatment of choice appears to be Adriamycin (doxorubicin), bleomycin, vincristine, dacarbazine (ABVD).
Prognosis
Virtually all patients with both localized and disseminated disease.