Hodgkin's disease in an elderly patient with B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

ABSTRACT

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is the most common type of leukemia worldwide. It is an indolent disease, almost exclusively of B-cell origin. Some CLLs evolve into a more aggressive lymphoid malignancy. The most common of these is Richter's syndrome. Transformation to acute lymphoblastic leukemia, plasma cell leukemia, multiple myeloma, or Hodgkin's disease (HD) may also occur. CLL patients are also at a significantly increased risk of developing a second malignant neoplasm later in life. One of the most common of these is HD. Herein, we report a case of HD in an elderly man with a history of B-cell CLL.