Hodgkin's disease spleen. Gross specimen of a spleen from a patient with Hodgkin's disease, a cancer of the lymphatic system. The scale at bottom is in centimetres, and it shows that this spleen is much larger than would normally be expected (splenomegaly). The lymphatic system is a major part of the immune system, and Hodgkin's disease can lead to a severe reduction in the patient's immune response. This means that normally harmless infections may prove life threatening. The cancer causes swelling of a group of lymph nodes, fever and weight loss. It can be treated in its early stages by chemotherapy and radiotherapy.