The lymph system is composed of vessels and glands that produce and conduct a type of white blood cell called lymphocytes. B lymphocytes make proteins called antibodies to help protect the body from germs (bacteria and viruses) and T lymphocytes destroy germs or abnormal cells in the body. T lymphocytes are the cells most commonly affected by Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, where 95 percent of cases are Classic Lymphoma with four different subtypes:
- Nodular sclerosis
- Mixed cellularity
- Lymphocyte-rich
- Lymphocyte-depleted
Nodular lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NLPHL) accounts for about five percent of cases and is the rarest of Hodgkin’s lymphomas, affecting mostly men. It appears in the lymph nodes under the arm or in the neck. Treatment for this rare type is sometimes less aggressive than for the classic HL because it is slow-growing.
In advanced cases, it is sometimes preferable to destroy all the stem cells with chemotherapy and then proceed with a stem cell transplant to restore the bone marrow.[1]
[1] https://www.cancer.org/cancer/hodgkin-lymphoma/about/what-is-hodgkin-disease.html