A case of true carcinosarcoma of the larynx occurring in a 55-year-old male is reported. The two components of this very rare tumour are pleomorphic rhabdomyosarcoma and squamous cell carcinoma. A review of the literature has revealed only two authentic cases of true carcinosarcomas.

Twenty-one percent of all Hodgkin's disease in India was seen in the pediatric age groups at the Tata Memorial Hospital (Bombay, India). From 1975 to 1982, 151 cases of children were reviewed. The youngest presentation was at 3 years in three patients, with a marked male: female ratio of 5.5:1. Twenty-six patients were previously treated before referral while the remaining 125 cases were investigated and treated according to the prevalent protocols in 1975 to 1978 and 1979 to 1982. Clinical staging revealed 54% of patients in stages I and II with symptoms in 20%, and 46% of patients in stages III and IV with symptoms in 67%. Staging laparotomy was performed in 27 patients, with a total changes of staging in 17 children (63%). The mixed cell types (46%) and lymphocytic predominant types (31%) were the most common histologic presentations. Nine percent nodular sclerosis and 9% lymphocytic-depleted varieties were also observed. Five percent of all cases were not classifiable. Minimum adequate treatment was completed in 87 cases. Comparisons were made between the treatments administered to 40 patients during the initial period 1975 to 1978 when individualized treatment was administered, and the later 47 patients during the 1979 to 1982 period, when chemotherapy was the mainstay of treatment with involved field radiation.

Hodgkin's disease (HD) had a low overall incidence rate in Bombay when compared to western countries. However, the incidence rate in childhood was quite high. Review of 1082 cases of Hodgkin's disease recorded at the Tata Memorial Hospital, Bombay, India during a period of 35 years showed that mixed cellularity, with 54% of the total, was the most frequent histologic subtype and this, together with lymphocyte depleted type formed 68% of all HD. The nodular sclerosis type formed only 9%. A bimodal character of the age pattern with a young age peak in the second decade of life, a male preponderance, a high incidence in childhood, and the predominance of low survival types, are the major features of the disease in India. The current data, which are the largest series reported from Bombay and other parts of India, indicate that the type‐I pattern as described by Correa and O'Conor4 may be the characteristic feature of the Hodgkin's disease in India.

The authors report a retrospective analysis of 441 patients with Hodgkin's disease seen at the Tata Memorial Hospital, Bombay, over a 4‐year period from 1975 to 1978. Clinicopathologic features seem to vary from those reported in the western literature, but are similar to the patterns observed in Africa and South America. Thirty‐three percent of all malignant lymphomas were Hodgkin's disease. Histologically, the mixed cell (MC) type (40%) and the lymphocytic predominant (LP) type (24%) were the most common, with 52% of patients presenting in Stages III and IV. The nodular sclerosis (NS) variant occurred in only 11% of the cases. Systemic symptoms were present in 24% of clinical Stage I patients, and increased steadily to 85% in Stage IV patients. Bone marrow biopsies in 242 patients were found to be of little value in Stages I and II. Thirty of 34 patients with positive bone marrow biopsy were in clinical Stages III B and IV, whereas 24 of 34 patients showed MC and LD patterns. Lymphangiography in 104 patients altered the clinical staging of Stages I and II in 27% of the cases with accuracy of 80%. Staging laparotomy performed in 93 patients altered the stage in 45% of clinical Stage I and 62% of Stage II patients. Splenic involvement was common in the presence of systemic symptoms (67%) and MC/LD histology (82%). The incidence of liver involvement was 16% in 15 patients with all, but one, associated with splenic pathology. The clinical stage and histopathologic variants of the disease bear an excellent correlation with a significant impact on treatment responses and total survival. The survival rates for Stage I were 81%, Stage II 76%, Stage IIIA 71%, and Stage IIIB and IV 46% at 48 months. The LP type had the best prognosis with 85% survival at 48 months, whereas the survival in the depleted variety was only 56%. Surprisingly, the MC type did better with a 64% survival, while the nodular sclerosis group had 59% surviving at 48 months.