Hodgkin's lymphoma: ESMO clinical recommendations for diagnosis, treatment and follow-up.

Pathological diagnosis should be made according to the World Health Organization classification from a surgical specimen/ excisional lymph node biopsy whenever possible providing sufficient material for fresh frozen and formalin-fixed samples. Classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) includes nodular sclerosing, mixed cellularity, lymphocyte-rich and lymphocytedepleted subtypes and represents about 95% of all HL cases. It is distinguished from nodular lymphocyte predominant Hodgkin lymphoma (NLPHL), which accounts for about 5% of all HL cases.