Re‐evaluation of high incidence of Hodgkin's disease in Kyushu, Japan

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Abstract
In order to revaluate the high mortality from Hodgkin's disease (HD) in Kyushu, Japan, the chronological changes of the geographical variation of HD were analysed. The age‐adjusted death rates (AADRs) for HD of the three periods 1969–71, 1974–76, and 1979–81 were calculated for each prefecture and 128 cases of HD in 1969–72 were re‐examined to evaluate the difference in the diagnostic criteria of HD among these periods. AADRs for HD in Kagoshima Prefecture, which had the highest mortality from HD in Japan in the early period, has decreased drastically and the mortality from HD in Kyushu has not been high in the most recent period. The main reasons for the decreased mortality from HD in Kyushu may be as follows: (1) HD has been more strictly diagnosed by histopathological criteria in recent years; (2) adult T‐cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL) which is prevalent in Kyushu and has similar histopathological features to those of HD may have been diagnosed as HD in the past when the concept of ATLL did not exist. Therefore, it is suggested that the mortality from HD in Kyushu has been essentially the same as for other areas in Japan even in the past.

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