Symptoms:

• Painless swelling of the lymph nodes in the neck, armpits, or groin (swollen glands)
• Fatigue
• Fever and chills
• Night sweats
• Weight loss
• Loss of appetite
• Generalized itching

• Excessive sweating
• Skin blushing or flushing
• Neck pain
• Hair loss
• Flank pain
• Clubbing of the fingers or toes
• Splenomegaly

Signs and tests:

The disease may be diagnosed after:

• A lymph node biopsy
• A bone marrow biopsy
• A biopsy of suspected tissue
• Detection of Reed-Sternberg (Hodgkin's lymphoma) cells by biopsy

A staging evaluation (tumor staging) may be done to determine the extent of the disease. The following procedures may be done:

• Physical examination
• CT scans of the chest, abdomen, and pelvis
• Bone marrow biopsy
• Blood chemistry tests
• PET scan  

In some cases, abdominal surgery to take a piece of the liver and remove the spleen may be needed. However, because the other tests are now so good at detecting the spread of Hodgkin's lymphoma, this surgery is usually unnecessary.

Hodgkin's lymphoma may change the results of the following tests:

• Lymphocyte count
• Small bowel biopsy
• Schirmer's test
• Peritoneal fluid analysis
• Mediastinoscopy with biopsy
• Gallium scan
• Ferritin
• Cytology exam of pleural fluid
• Cryoglobulins
• Bone marrow aspiration
• Blood differential
• ACE levels