A 72-year-old White man presents to his doctor with fatigue and occasional fever that he says has been lingering for the past 3 months. He said he has experienced night sweats on a couple of random occasions in the past month. He has a general feeling of being unwell and what he calls "dragging."

Physical exam reveals adenopathy of the right cervical nodes. There is no other lymphadenopathy. The liver and spleen are normal on palpation. Heart, breathing and gastrointestinal sounds are all normal on auscultation. Resting heart rate is 70 beats/min. Blood pressure is 120/80 mm Hg. The patient appears pale. His family history is unremarkable, and his medical history includes hyperlipidemia and hypertension, both of which are pharmacologically well controlled.

Laboratory testing is performed: complete blood cell count with differential, comprehensive metabolic panel, lactate dehydrogenase, and beta-2 microglobulin. All of these values are in the normal range. His Performance Status score is 1.