A short history of Hodgkin's disease and Burkitt's lymphoma.

Although there are convincing descriptions of primary lymph node tumors dating from 1666, research into lymphoreticular disease began in 1832 when Thomas Hodgkin gave clinical descriptions and gross post mortem findings for seven cases. Later Reed and Sternberg concluded that Hodgkin's disease was indeed a different lesion with particular microscopical features. In the late 1950s, Burkitt described a tumor he observed in Uganda that affected the jaw. Originally it was called "round cell sarcoma." In 1961 Burkitt and O'Connor described the features of the clinical syndrome known today as Burkitt's lymphoma. Soon afterward, Wright established that this lymphoma was distinguished from other forms of lymphomas based on histopathologic features.