Epithelioid granulomas in Hodgkin disease. A favorable prognostic sign?

Histologic sections of spleen and liver prepared from tissue obtained during exploratory laparotomy and splenectomy in 91 untreated patients with Hodgkin disease were reviewed to assess the incidence and possible implications of noncaseating, epitheliod, sarcoid-like granulomas. The 17 patients with granulomas and the 74 patients without granulomas did not differ appreciably with respect to pretreatment indexes. All patients were observed for at least 15 months following laparotomy or until the time of death (range, 15 to 67 months; median, 25 months). The 17 patients with granulomas tended to have fewer relapses, longer survival, and lower incidence of subsequent herpes zoster infection compared to the 74 without granulomas. The presence of epithelioid granulomas in association with Hodgkin disease may reflect a host response to the tumor with favorable prognostic implications.