Rare Presentation of Adult T-cell Leukaemia/Lymphoma Mimicking Hodgkin Lymphoma: A Case Report

DISCOVERIES REPORTS (ISSN 2393249X), 2026, volume 9

_{ORIGINAL ARTICLE}

_{ARTICLE (pdf)  DOI: 10.15190/drep.2026.5}

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_{CITATION: Gurjar P, Nishith N, Sancheti S, Somal P, Sharma A, Nongthombam G, Pawar RN, Prasad P. Rare Presentation of Adult T-cell Leukaemia/Lymphoma Mimicking Hodgkin Lymphoma: A Case Report. Discoveries Reports 2026; 9(1): e50. DOI: 10.15190/drep.2026.5}

_{Rare Presentation of Adult T-cell Leukaemia/Lymphoma Mimicking Hodgkin Lymphoma: A Case Report}

Poorva Gurjar ¹, Nilay Nishith ¹, Sankalp Sancheti ¹, Dr. Puneet Somal ¹, Aishwarya Sharma ¹, Gunit Nongthombam ¹, Ravikiran N Pawar ^1, *, Pooja Prasad ²

¹ Department of Oncopathology, Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, New Chandigarh, India 

² Department of Medical Oncology, Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, New Chandigarh, India

* Corresponding author: Dr. Ravikiran N. Pawar, Department of Oncopathology, Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, New Chandigarh, India; Email: ravikiransingh2512@gmail.com

_Abstract

Adult T-cell leukaemia/lymphoma (ATLL) is a mature T-cell neoplasm associated withhuman T-lymphotropic virustype 1 (HTLV-1) infection and guarded prognosis.‘Hodgkin-like’ is a rare morphological variant of ATLL, which represents the incipient neoplastic phase of ATLL and follows an indolent clinical course as compared to typical ATLL. However, the management approach, treatment and prognosis of conventional “Hodgkin-like’ variant varies from that of Hodgkin lymphoma. Hence, it is important to distinguish between these two entities and to test for HTLV-1 infection in all cases of T-cell lymphoma showing features of ATLL and in those with features of classic Hodgkin lymphoma where the background lymphoid cells (other than the HRS-like cells) appear atypical. A multidisciplinary approach including the correlation of peripheral blood picture with immunophenotyping along with LN biopsy and immunohistochemistry is beneficial for the correct diagnosis of T cell lymphomas with morphological variations. Hereby we describe a rare case of ATLL with Hodgkin-like cells mimicking Hodgkin lymphoma. This is important to distinguish those due to difference in the treatment and outcome.

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