Hodgkin’s lymphoma in a 3-year-old toddler: A case report and brief review of literature

Abstract

Hodgkin’s lymphoma (HL) is exceptionally rare in the under-5 age group. The present case is a 3-year-old male toddler who presented with a painless cervical lymphadenopathy of 4-week duration. Fine needle aspiration cytology and histopathologic examination from the lymph node concluded classical Hodgkin’s lymphoma of the mixed cellularity subtype. Immunohistochemistry demonstrated that the neoplastic cells are positive for CD30, CD15 and CD20 and negative for CD45, which further supported the diagnosis of classical HL. The patient is treated with the ABVD chemotherapy regimen, with complete resolution after four cycles. The aim of this case report is to highlight that Hodgkin’s lymphoma can occur in under 5 children so that the clinicians and pathologists will consider it as a possibility to facilitate early diagnosis and treatment.