Further observations on the biologic significance of vascular invasion in Hodgkin's disease

Vascular invasion was detected in the pretreatment lymph node biopsy sections in 9, or 5.9%, of 153 patients with Stage I or II Hodgkin's disease. This finding was associated with a greater than twofold increase in extension of disease to nonadjacent areas and with a life-table survival at 18 months almost one-half that of cases without evidence of vascular invasion. Of the 9 cases of vascular invasion, 4 occurred in Hodgkin's disease of the nodular sclerosing type and 4 in Hodgkin's disease with mixed cellularity. The finding of vascular invasion in lymph node biopsy sections from patients with Hodgkin's disease regardless of histologic type appears to be a feature indicating an increased risk of the occurrence of nonadjacent or extranodal disease, or both.