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Hodgkins disease, sometimes called Hodgkins lymphoma, is a cancer that starts in lymphatic tissue. Lymphatic tissue includes the lymph nodes and related organs that are part of the bodys immune and blood-forming systems. The lymph nodes are small, bean-shaped organs found underneath the skin in the neck, underarm, groin, and elsewhere in the body. They are also found inside the chest, abdomen, and pelvis. Lymph nodes make and store infection-fighting white blood cells, called lymphocytes. They are connected throughout the body by lymph vessels (narrow tubes similar to blood vessels).
These lymph vessels carry a colorless, watery fluid (lymphatic fluid) that contains lymphocytes. Eventually the lymphatic fluid is emptied into the blood vessels in the left upper chest. Other components of the lymphatic system include the spleen, the bone marrow, and the thymus. The spleen is an organ in the left side of the upper abdomen that is composed primarily of mature and immature lymphocytes. It removes old cells and, if present, other debris from the blood.
The bone marrow is the spongy tissue inside the bones that creates new red and white blood cells including lymphocytes. The thymus is a small organ in the chest that is important in development of a special lymphocyte called a T cell. Because lymphatic tissue is present in many parts of the body, Hodgkins disease can start almost anywhere. This cancer causes enlargement of the lymphatic tissue which can then cause pressure on important structures.
The cancer cells can spread through the lymphatic vessels to other lymphatic vessels. If it gets into the blood vessels, it can also spread to almost any other site in the body, including the liver and lungs, although this is less common. There are many reasons why lymphatic tissue can become enlarged. While this may be caused by Hodgkins disease, it is much more commonly a result of the body fighting an infection.
Your doctor can help determine the cause. Hodgkins disease is a type of malignant lymphoma (cancer of lymphatic tissue). Lymphomas are divided into two general types: Hodgkins disease (named after Dr. Thomas Hodgkin who first recognized it in 1832) and non-Hodgkins lymphomas. The cancer cells in Hodgkins disease look different under a microscope from cells of non-Hodgkins lymphomas and other cancers. These cells are named Reed-Sternberg cells, after the two doctors who first described them in detail.
Although the exact nature of the Reed-Sternberg cell is still unclear, many scientists believe that these cells are a type of malignant B lymphocyte. Normal B lymphocytes are the cells that make antibodies that help fight infections. Doctors have given names to different types of Hodgkins disease: lymphocyte predominance, nodular sclerosis, mixed cellularity, lymphocyte depletion, and unclassified. All of these types are malignant because as they grow, they may compress, invade, destroy normal tissue and spread to other tissues. There is no benign (noncancerous) form of Hodgkins disease.
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