Lymphoma with clonal T-cell receptor gene rearrangement in a 25-year survivor of Hodgkin's disease.

A woman was treated for Hodgkin's disease, remained disease-free for 25 years, and then developed waxing and waning adenopathy during the next 2 years. The histologic examination of a lymph node biopsy specimen showed a T-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The patient's indolent clinical course prompted a second biopsy to obtain tissue for T-cell receptor gene rearrangement studies. A southern blot analysis using a human T-cell receptor beta chain probe showed a new band of rearranged DNA, which confirmed the diagnosis of T-cell lymphoma.