Hodgkin's disease - also known as Hodgkin's lymphoma - is an uncommon cancer of the lymphatic system, which is part of your immune system. It's named after the British physician Thomas Hodgkin, who first described the disease in 1832 and noted several characteristics that distinguish it from other lymphomas.

In Hodgkin's disease, cells in the lymphatic system grow abnormally and may spread beyond the lymphatic system. As Hodgkin's disease progresses, it compromises your body's ability to fight infection.

Hodgkin's disease most commonly affects people between the ages of 15 and 40 and people older than age 55. It's one of two common types of cancers of the lymphatic system. Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, the other type, is far more common. In the United States in 2004, there were about 7,880 new cases of Hodgkin's disease, compared with 54,320 new cases of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Each year, about 1,300 Americans die of Hodgkin's disease. However, death rates for this disease have dropped by 60 percent since the 1970s. Advances in diagnosis, staging and treatment of Hodgkin's disease have helped to make this once uniformly fatal disease highly treatable with the potential for full recovery.

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