Epidemiology and hereditary aspects of hodgkin and non-hodgkin lymphomas

Abstract

The lymphomas have been of unusually great interest to epidemiologists for several reasons. First, both Hodgkin lymphoma and the non-Hodgkin lymphomas have long been suspected of having an infectious etiology and both have been associated with immunosuppression. Second, Hodgkin lymphoma has an unusual pattern of incidence with age, which has suggested that it is at least two different diseases with important underlying environmental determinants. In contrast to Hodgkin lymphoma, the likelihood on clinical and histopathologic grounds that the non-Hodgkin lymphomas are several different disease entities has probably impeded epidemiologic and other research interest in this group of diseases.