spontaneousregressionofcutaneous Hodgkin'sdisease | Spontaneous Remission Database

Case Details

Disease Location

Left axilla, skin

Personal Characteristics

46 -year-old male

Clinical Characteristics

Presented with a mass in the left axilla, at about the same time he developed total alopecia ln biopsy showed infiltration by hodgkin's disease of mixed cellularity type there were no systemic symptoms or other clinical evidence of hodgkin's disease erythrocyte sedimentation rate was 83mm in the first hour pathological staging was i-a mantle irradiation was administered to the midpoint of the chest in 20 fractions over 28 days after the completetion of the radiation, a rash was noted that began on the lower abdomen and left groin and spread to the front of the thighs and the buttocks. There was an isolated nodule on the left elbow the lesions were discrete infiltrated papules, up to 8mm in diameter of a livid red to flesh color specific infiltration of the skin by diseased cells was diagnosed clinically exam of a biopsy specimen of one of the abdominal lesions showed that the dermis was infiltrated by lymphocytes, plasma cells, eosinophils, mononuclear hodgkin's cells, and classical binucleate reed-sternberg cells erythrocyte sedimentation rate had fallen to 29 mm in the first hour hair started to regrow, alopecia areata was diagnosed retrospectively and though to be coincidental sequential single-agent chemo administered over 4 years controlled the disease but did not eradicate it

Remission Characteristics

The skin nodules resolved spontaneously within one months at about the same time the patient's hair started to regrow there has been no further evidence of recurrent hodgkin's disease two and half years after treatment

Treatment & Mechanisms

Proposed Remission Mechanisms

No major mechanism proposed

Clinical Treatment

Mantle irradiation

Non-Clinical Treatment

None reported