[Non-Hodgkin's lymphomas. I. Clinico-biological features of 307 cases]

Abstract

Purpose: To assess the clinico-biological features appearing in 307 patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHL).

Patients and methods: The clinical records of 338 patients diagnosed of NHL between January 1975 and December 1988 were revised in retrospect. All cases with histologic diagnosis of NHL aged over 14 years were included, and classified in accordance with the Working Formulation criteria. The following data were analysed: age, sex, first complaints, time elapsed since onset, histologic type, number of sites involved, bulky disease, anaemia, thrombocytopenia, LDH, stage, type of treatment and initial response, survival, and cause of death. The statistical evaluation was performed by actuarial analysis (Kaplan and Meier) and comparison (log-rank test) of survival.

Results: According to the three categories of the malignancies, the NHL were distributed into low-grade (37.8%), intermediate (36.1%) and high-grade (26.9%). The mean age of the series was 56.6 years and the M/F ratio was 1.3. Lymph node enlargement was the commonest finding; 36.4% of the patients had symptoms related with the disease, and 26.7% had bulky disease. Anaemia was present in 37.7% of the cases and thrombocytopenia in 14.3%, with similar distribution among the three grades. High LDH levels were found in 44% of the patients. At diagnosis, 85% of the patients were in advanced stages (III+IV) already. Complete response was attained in 51.1% of the cases, with median survival of 48 months.

Conclusions: The clinico-evolutive data found here are similar to other reports in the literature. In one-half of the patients the cause of the first visit is lymph node enlargement. Complete remission is achieved by one out of two patients, this figure being similar for each of the histologic groups. The Working Formulation is useful in determining the different prognostic groups with respect to survival.