Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) of the central nervous system (CNS) is a rarely reported complication of Hodgkin's disease (HD). Two patients with NHL of the brain after HD were studied by histologic and immunohistochemical methods. Both patients were in the second decade, had been treated with radiation and chemotherapy, had experienced a relapse of HD before development of NHL, had no evidence of HD at the time of diagnosis of NHL, and died within 1 year of diagnosis. Both brain neoplasms were large cell immunoblastic lymphomas of B-cell lineage. Patients with HD appear to be at increased risk for NHL of the CNS, which may have a poor prognosis. Cancer 67:440-443,1991.
ODGKIN'S DISEASE (HD) rarely involves the central H nervous system (CNS). In contrast, non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHL) of the CNS, although in the minority of primary CNS neoplasms, are increasingly common and frequently occur in immunologically compromised patients.l,2 Patients with HD are at increased risk of developing second malignancies, including NHL,3-5 although CNS lymphomas have rarely been
We studied two patients who had primary NHL of the brain after HD. These cases share many clinical and pathologic features, suggesting that NHL of the CNS and HD may be causally related.