The Reed-Sternberg Cell
 
Necessary for diagnosis, the Reed-Sternberg cell must present in a background of non-neoplastic inflammatory cells. (RS cell induces this inflammatory reaction.)
  • Lymphocytes
  • Plasma cells
  • Eosinophils

 The typical bilobed RS cell.

  • The RS cell is a tumor giant cell.
    • 15 - 45 microns in diameter
  • It is the neoplastic cell of HD.
  • Binucleate or bilobed with the two halves looking like mirror images of each other.
  • Owl-eyed nucleoli surrounded by a halo.
    • Nucleoli are about the size of a small lymphocyte. 
Mononuclear variants of the RS cell.
  • Single round or oblong nucleus.
  • Large inclusion like a nucleolus
  • Prominent "halo" around the cell.
  • Lacunar cells.
    • May have a delicate, folded or multi-lobated nucleus.
    • Nucleus looks like a piece of popped popcorn.
    • Seen in nodular sclerosis type of Hodgkin Disease