Frequency and clinicopathologic correlation of different types of non Hodgkin's lymphoma according to WHO classification.

OBJECTIVES: To analyze the frequency and clinicopathologic correlation of different types of Non Hodgkin's Lymphomas (NHL) according to WHO classification of lymphoid neoplasms.

METHODS: Total sixty two consecutive biopsy proven cases of NHL, from October 2008 to June 2010, were selected. The inclusion criteria was, all newly diagnosed patients of NHL with appropriate clinical information regarding age, gender, anatomic location and occurrence of B symptoms. All the cases were evaluated on Haematoxylin and Eosin (H & E) and special stains. Cases were subjected to Immunohistochemistry (IHC) using extensive panel of antibodies and classified according to WHO classification of lymphoid neoplasms.

RESULTS: Clinical data showed that 42 (67%) were males and 20 (33%) females. The male to female ratio was 2.6:1. The age range was 6 to 80 years. Mean age for males was 39.6 +/- 17.3 years and for females 45.1 +/- 17.8 years. The B cell lymphoma comprised of 85.5% as compared to T cell lymphoma consisting of 14.5%. The extra nodal involvement was seen in 25 (40.3 %) cases, while 37 (59.3%) cases showed nodal involvement. The B symptoms were found in overall 29 (46.7 %) cases.

CONCLUSION: B cell NHL is more common as compared to T cell lymphoma. Diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) was the most frequent B cell lymphoma. The major bulk of T cell lymphomas comprised of anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL). Significant association was seen in the occurrence of B symptoms with extra nodal origin and male gender.