Reed Sternberg cell
Last reviewed 11/2023
This is common to all forms of Hodgkin's disease.
Characteristics:
- large cell - 15 to 45 micrometers in diameter
- often binucleate, bilobed or multinucleate
- abundant amphiphilic cytoplasm
- "owl-eyed" nucleoli surrounded by a clear halo
Variants:
- uninucleated cells with prominent nucleoli
- lacunar cells - large, single hperlobated nucleus with multiple, small nucleoli and an abundance of pale staining cytoplasm
Reed Sternberg cells and variants are thought to be the neoplastic component in Hodgkin's disease. They are a necessary but insufficent feature for the diagnosis of Hodgkin's disease.
Similar or identical cells may be present in other conditions:
- infectious mononucleosis
- non-Hodgkin's lymphomas
- solid tissue cancers