How is NHL different from Hodgkins?
While NHL is characterized by many different cell types, and may arise in many different locations, sometimes simultaneously and via unknown paths, Hodgkin’s lymphoma (HL) consists of just four subtypes and in many cases is a more orderly cancer. It is more likely to occur entirely within nodes and to spread into adjacent, contiguous nodes, probably spreading through lymphatic ducts. NHL is more frequently diagnosed in older people, whereas, in the U.S., HL most often arises during the second and third decades of life. One subtype of NHL, anaplastic large-cell lymphoma (ALCL), resembles one subtype of Hodgkin’s lymphoma, lymphocyte-depleted Hodgkin’s lymphoma (LDHL). Care must be taken when diagnosing these subtypes, as their treatments differ. Although many of the same drugs are used for both NHL and HL, treatments that are successful for NHL are less so for HL and vice versa. Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) seldom is found in B-cell NHL tumors unless they arise in an immune-suppressed perso
