THE CLINICAL-SIGNIFICANCE OF THE MORPHOLOGICAL SUBDIVISION OF DIFFUSE HISTIOCYTIC LYMPHOMA - A STUDY OF 162 PATIENTS TREATED BY THE SOUTHWEST ONCOLOGY GROUP

Abstract

Patients (162) with advanced, diffuse histiocytic lymphoma (DHL) were grouped into various morphological subtypes to ascertain whether there were any significant differences in survival among them. These patients were staged and treated from 1972-1977 according to the protocols of the Southwest Oncology Group [USA]. Of the 159 patients on whom a consensus on the diagnosis was reached, 115 were classified morphologically as large noncleaved, 26 as B-immunoblastic, 9 as large cleaved and 6 as T-immunoblastic. The 3 remaining patients did not fit any of these subtypes but each had a single prominent nucleolus in most tumor cells (prominent nucleolus type). Morphological subdivision of DHL did not identify any subgroup of patients with a significantly longer survival, but clinical parameters such as stage, symptoms and type of treatment significantly influenced survival times.