Chronic lymphocytic leukemia with coexistent Hodgkin's disease. Implications for the origin of the Reed-Sternberg cell.

The association of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and Hodgkin's disease has been controversial. Pleomorphic lymphoreticular cells resembling Reed-Sternberg cells have been observed in Richter's syndrome. Although most observers have favored the view that these cells are a component of a pleomorphic non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, some cases of histologically typical Hodgkin's disease have been described. We have studied two cases that appear to represent composite CLL and Hodgkin's disease, providing evidence for an interrelationship of these two disorders. Classic Reed-Sternberg cells and variants (RS-H) were seen in a background that was otherwise typical of CLL. Both patients initially presented with characteristic findings of CLL in the peripheral blood and bone marrow. The first patient was found to have RS-H cells within lymph nodes at initial presentation, and ultimately progressed to develop a disseminated lymphoma characteristic of Hodgkin's disease. In the second patient, RS-H cells were not discovered until 5 years later. Immunophenotypic studies confirmed these morphologic impressions. The predominant lymphocyte population had a phenotype consistent with B-cell CLL. By contrast, the RS-H cells were strongly positive for CD15 (Leu M1) with staining of the Golgi region and cell membrane. Additionally, the RS-H cells were surrounded by rosettes of lymphocytes that marked as T cells. In both of the patients, a small percentage of RS-H cells expressed positivity for the B-cell marker L-26, which may indicate an origin from the underlying CLL. These findings support a B-cell origin for the malignant cell in some cases of Hodgkin's disease and suggest that Hodgkin's disease in some patients may be related to or derived from a coexisting lymphoid malignancy.