People who develop Hodgkin's disease often see their physicians because of the persistent swelling of painless lymph nodes in the neck or underarms. The swollen nodes may be the only sign of disease or they may be accompanied by unexplained fevers, chills, night sweats, weight loss or itching.
Young people with limited disease usually feel entirely well, but occasionally have symptoms such as itching. Cough, shortness of breath or chest discomfort can be the first symptoms of HD in the chest, although it is not unusual for a mass to be detected on a chest x-ray done for totally unrelated reasons. Less commonly, Hodgkin's disease in the abdomen may be signaled by an enlarged spleen or enlarged groin lymph nodes. These are much more likely to be signs of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma than of HD, however.
