Non-Hodgkin's lymphomas. analysis of 109 Japanese cases with the use of LSGJ classification.

Recently the Lymphoma Study Group of Japan (LSGJ) proposed a new classification of non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHLs), diving NHLs into the follicular group consisting of three subsets and the diffuse group, 7. Each subset of the diffuse group is further divided into B or T cell types according to immunologic markers and/or morphologic prediction. In the review of 118 malignant lymphomas, the authors studied the 109 cases of NHLs, attempting to assess the clinicopathologic utility of this classification. Morphologic criteria, enzyme histochemistry, and immunoperoxidase technique were used to ensure the accuracy of the immunologic phenotyping. The results suggest that the LSGJ classification is easily reproducible and yields a more precise clinicopathologic correlation than traditional, morphologic classifications. Consistent with similar studies in Japan, this study demonstrated a low incidence of Hodgkin's disease (7.6% of all lymphomas) and follicular lymphomas (8.3% of all NHLs) and a high incidence of T cell lymphomas (34.9% of all NHLs). The incidence (45.9%) of extranodal presentation was high. These four features seem characteristic of lymphomas in Japan.