Advances in Hodgkin lymphoma research

Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) has been and still is the most enigmatic lymphoid malignancy in humans. Since the first molecular analysis of isolated Hodgkin and Reed-Sternberg (HRS) tumor cells of classic HL 30 years ago, substantial advances in our understanding of HL have been made. This review describes the cellular origin of HL, summarizes the current knowledge about the genetic lesions in HRS cells, and highlights the role of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in HL pathogenesis. Moreover, the pathobiological roles of altered gene expression and deregulated signaling pathways are discussed and key aspects of the HL microenvironment are presented.