Hodgkin's disease in Western India: review of 1082 cases.

Hodgkin's disease (HD) had a low overall incidence rate in Bombay when compared to western countries. However, the incidence rate in childhood was quite high. Review of 1082 cases of Hodgkin's disease recorded at the Tata Memorial Hospital, Bombay. India during a period of 35 years showed that mixed cellularity, with 54% of the total, was the most frequent histologic subtype and this, together with lymphocyte depleted type formed 68% of all HD. The nodular sclerosis type formed only 9%. A bimodal character of the age pattern with a young age peak in the second decade of life, a male preponderance, a high incidence in childhood, and the predominance of low survival types, are the major features of the disease in India. The current data, which are the largest series reported from Bombay and other parts of India, indicate that the type-I pattern as described by Correa and O'Connor may be the characteristic feature of the Hodgkin's disease in India.