Nodular lymphocyte predominant Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NLPHL) is a type of Hodgkin’s disease, a cancer of lymph cells. It is one of the less frequent types of Hodgkin’s disease comprising about 5% of all cases of this cancer. However, it has several distinctive features that set it apart from other types of Hodgkin’s (together known as classical Hodgkin’s lymphoma).
NLPHL can occur at any age, though most patients are usually in their thirties. It is three times more common in males compared with females.
The predominant warning sign of this disease is an enlargement of lymph nodes in the neck, chest or armpits. Involvement of other lymph nodes or other organs is quite uncommon. Other symptoms of lymphoma include fever, weight loss and sweating at night The diagnosis of lymphoma is made with a lymph node biopsy. The exact type of lymphoma is determined by molecular tests that can tell between NLPHL and other types of Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Nearly 8 out of 10 patients with NLPHL are diagnosed with early stage lymphoma, involving lymph nodes only in the neck and upper half of the body. Treatment of nodular lymphocyte predominant Hodgkin's lymphoma includes chemotherapy and often radiation therapy as well. Most patients respond very well to treatment, and more than 90% are cured.
Source:
Cancer: Principles and Practice of Oncology 7th Edition. Editors: VT DeVita, S Hellman and SA Rosenberg. Published by Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, 2005.
