Evidence for a Seasonal Variation in the Presentation of Hodgkins Disease

Abstract

An analysis by month of diagnosis was made of 1359 cases of Hodgkins disease (HD) on the Scotland and Newcastle Lymphoma Group (SNLG) registry 1979-1992 to look for evidence of seasonality. A March peak was evident when all cases were analysed (p < 0.01). The histological subtypes nodular sclerosing (NS) and mixed cellularity (MC) showed a similar pattern (p < 0.05) while lymphocyte depleted (LD) and lymphocyte predominant (LP) had no demonstrable seasonal variation. In a breakdown by age and sex there was evidence of seasonality in both sexes but only under the age of 40. This provides further evidence for the heterogeneity of HD and supports the hypothesis that different factors are involved in the aetiology of this condition in younger compared to older patients.