In a 17-year-old girl with a single, painless, enlarged cervical lymph node, what is the most likely diagnosis?

In the case of a 17-year-old girl presenting with a single, painless, enlarged cervical lymph node, the most likely diagnosis is Hodgkin lymphoma. This condition is notably common among adolescents and young adults and typically presents with lymphadenopathy that is often asymptomatic.

Hodgkin lymphoma is characterized by the presence of Reed-Sternberg cells and tends to manifest as a single enlarged lymph node, particularly in the neck regions. Unlike the other choices, this type of lymphoma usually begins in a singular area before potentially spreading to others, which aligns with the description provided.

The other lymphoproliferative disorders, such as angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, extramedullary plasmacytoma, and mantle cell lymphoma, present differently and are less likely to be the cause in this scenario. For example, angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma tends to present with systemic symptoms and multiple node involvement. Extramedullary plasmacytoma generally arises from an underlying plasma cell dyscrasia, and mantle cell lymphoma, while it can appear in younger patients, typically presents with more widespread disease rather than a singular lymph node.

Thus, the description of a single, painless enlarged cervical lymph node in a young girl