VII. Management of nodular lymphocyte‐predominant Hodgkin lymphoma

Nodular lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin lymphoma (NLPHL) accounts for about 5% of all Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) cases [1]. This entity differs substantially from the histological subtypes of classical HL (cHL) in terms of immunohistology, clinical presentation, and course. The B-cell marker CD20 that is only inconsistently found on Hodgkin and Reed–Sternberg cells in cHL represents a hallmark of the disease-defining lymphocyte-predominant (LP) cells. In contrast, LP cells usually lack the CD30 and CD15 antigens that are typically expressed on Hodgkin and Reed–Sternberg cells (Figure 1; Table 1) [2]. The majority of NLPHL patients are diagnosed with early favourable stages. These patients have a very good prognosis and long-term remission is achieved in more than 90% of cases. In more advanced NLPHL, particularly late relapses are frequently observed. However, most relapses can be salvaged successfully resulting in an excellent overall survival (OS) for NLPHL patients [3].