T-cell-rich B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma mimicking Hodgkin's disease.

We report on a patient with recurrent T-cell-rich B-cell lymphoma (TCRBCL), initially misdiagnosed as a lymphocyte-rich Hodgkin's disease. This case exemplifies the diagnostic problems of TCRBCL and the need for immunophenotypic analysis to differentiate TCRBCL from Hodgkin's disease, nodular paragranuloma and peripheral T-cell lymphoma. A rather unusual aspect is the long disease-free interval between the excision of the node in and the late relapse in 1996. The significance of the abundant T-cell infiltration in this B-cell neoplasm will be discussed and the concepts concerning antitumor response will be reviewed. Based on epidemiological data and the clinical behaviour TCRBCL does not seem to represent a distinctive pathological entity.