Sézary syndrome after successful treatment of Hodgkin's disease.

A patient had a cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, appearing clinically as Sézary syndrome, that developed two years after successful treatment of Hodgkin's disease with combined radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Clinical, histologic, and electron microscopic observations were made during the course of the Sézary syndrome. The malignant cells in the cell infiltrates and in the peripheral blood were characterized as T cells. There is a possible relationship of the cutaneous T-cell lymphoma to impaired immune surveillance in this patient and to the potential carcinogenicity of combined radiotherapy and chemotherapy.