Cell-mediated immune deficiency in Hodgkin's disease.

Disturbances of the immune system frequently accompany the development of lymphomas in man. In the early stages of non-Hodgkin's lymphomas, abnormalities of immunological function are usually minimal, but impairment of both antibody- and cell-mediated immunity is often noted in advanced disease. In contrast, while antibody-mediated immune responses in patients with Hodgkin's disease usually remain intact until late in the course of the illness, cell-mediated immune dysfunction is an early and consistent feature. Here Rakesh Kumar and Ronald Penny discuss the abnormalities of cell-mediated immunity in Hodgkin's disease.