A clinicopathological study of benign Hodgkin's disease.

A series of 44 cases of benign Hodgkin's disease is reported. The condition occurs most commonly between the ages of 15 and 35 years and affects men more often than women. The presenting symptom is painless lymphadenopathy, frequently in the neck, and often confined to a single group of nodes. The histological features are the presence of Sternberg-Reed cells in a back-ground of mature lymphocytes intermingled with a small number of reticulum cells. Mitotic figures are usually present only in the Sternberg-Reed cells. The prognosis is good; 93% of cases survive five years and 85% 10 years. About one-quarter of the cases show transition to classical Hodgkin's disease after a period of five or more years and die with widely disseminated Hodgkin's disease. Biopsy-excision followed by radiotherapy is the treatment of choice.