Circulating immune complexes and symptoms in Hodgkin's disease.

Increased quantities of the third component of complement (C3) were found in the macromolecular fractions of plasma from patients with untreated Hodgkin's disease (H.D.) These changes provide indirect evidence that immune complexes are present in the plasma of patients with this disease; their presence is closely correlated with the symptoms of night sweats and fever which are associated with a poor prognosis. It is suggested that the detection of circulating complexes may help in assessing the severity of H.D.