Hodgkin’s Lymphoma: Biology and Treatment Strategies for Primary, Refractory, and Relapsed Disease

Hodgkin’s lymphomas belong to the most curable tumor diseases in adults. About 80 % of patients in all anatomical stages and of all histological subtypes can be cured with modern treatment strategies. In spite of the great clinical progress, the pathogenesis of this peculiar lymphoprolifer-ative entity has not been elucidated completely up until now. In Section I Drs. Stein, Hummel, and Zollinger describe the different pro-proliferative and antiapoptotic pathways and molecules involved in the transformation of the germinal center B-lymphocyte to the malignant Hodgkin-Reed-Sternberg cell. They use a comprehensive gene expression profiling (Affymetrix gene chip U133A