Hodgkin's disease in pediatric patients with naturally occurring immunodeficiency.

A case/control study of pediatric patients with Hodgkin's disease (HD) was undertaken to compare clinical characteristics in patients with known underlying immunodeficiency (20 Immunodeficiency Cancer Registry cases) and without known immunodeficiency (100 Late Effects Study Group cases). Immunodeficiency Cancer Registry cases demonstrated a younger mean age at diagnosis (p = 0.03), and a significantly higher rate of failure to achieve remission (p = 0.001) than did the Late Effects Study Group controls. Also, Immunodeficiency Cancer Registry cases showed a proportional excess of unfavorable histologies when compared with large published pediatric series. These discrepancies are consistent with a common etiology of HD relating to underlying immune defect in Immunodeficiency Cancer Registry HD patients as well as HD patients (or a select subgroup) without known immunodeficiency disorders.