What causes Hodgkin’s disease?

Although the cause of Hodgkin’s disease is unknown, research is going on all the time to find the cause. Some factors can increase a person’s risk of developing Hodgkin’s disease and these include:

• poor immunity: for example, in people who are taking medicines after an organ transplant; in people who have HIV or AIDS and some rare medical conditions that reduce immunity
• age: Hodgkin’s disease is most common in younger people in their 20s although it can occur at any age
• infection with the Epstein Barr virus (which causes glandular fever) may slightly increase the risk of developing Hodgkin’s disease later in life.