Hodgkin's disease. A clinico-pathological study of 250 cases with a 5-year follow-up

Two hundred and fifty cases of histologically proven Hodgkin's disease have been reviewed. These cases were classified according to the Rye Conference histological classification (Lukes et al., 1966a) and according to the Cross classification (Cross, 1969). Overall, both classifications were reasonably effective in predicting prognosis but that of Cross with its seven sub-groups proved more difficult to use than the simpler Rye classification. In all cases the follow-up period exceeded 5 years. A study was made of the influence of clinical symptoms on survival with particular reference to night sweats, fever, pruritus, anorexia, lassitude, weight loss, haematological abnormalities and splenic enlargement. The presence of these abnormalities adversely affected prognosis. The spread of the disease from one group of nodes to the next was also documented. Considering all cases the 5-year survival was 54%. The 5-year survivals according to histological type were: lymphocytic predominance 69%, nodular sclerosis 57%, mixed cellularity 41%, lymphocytic depletion 40%. The 10-year survival was 23% which, when corrected by the actuarial method (Berkson and Gage, 1950), rose to 36%. The importance of symptomatology as well as histological grading in the prognosis of Hodgkin's disease is confirmed.