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Non-Hodgkin lymphoma in the Far East: review of 730 cases from the international non-Hodgkin lymphoma classification project

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Abstract

Large and systematic studies of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) in the Far East (FE) with good comparative data are scarce in the literature. In this study, five expert hematopathologists classified 730 consecutive cases of newly-diagnosed NHL from four sites in the FE (excluding Japan) using the World Health Organization classification. The results were compared to 399 cases from North America (NA). We found a significantly higher male to female ratio in the FE compared to NA (1.7 versus 1.1; p < 0.05). The median ages of patients with low-grade (LG) and high-grade (HG) B-NHL in the FE (58 and 51 years, respectively) were significantly lower than in NA (64 and 68 years, respectively). The FE had a significantly lower relative frequency of B-NHL and a higher frequency of T-NHL (82 vs. 18 %) compared to NA (90.5 vs. 9.5 %). Among mature B cell lymphomas, the FE had a significantly higher relative frequency of HG B-NHL (54.8 %) and a lower frequency of LG B-NHL (27.2 %) than NA (34.3 and 56.1 %, respectively). Diffuse large B cell lymphoma was more common in the FE (49.4 %) compared to NA (29.3 %), whereas the relative frequency of follicular lymphoma was lower in the FE (9.4 %) compared to NA (33.6 %). Among T-NHL, nasal NK/T cell NHL was more frequent in the FE (5.2 %) compared to NA (0 %). Peripheral T cell lymphoma was also more common in the FE (9.1 %) than in NA (5.3 %). Further epidemiologic studies are needed to better understand the pathobiology of these differences.

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Acknowledgments

We thank all the following pathologists and hematologists who contributed to this study: F. Ho, R. Liang, and W. Au (University of Hong Kong Queen Mary Hospital, Pokfulam, Hong Kong); E. S. R. Hardjolukito (Fakultas Kedokteran Universitas Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia); X. Li (Cancer Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China); and P. Wannakrairot and T. Intragumtornchai (Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand).

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Correspondence to Dennis D. Weisenburger.

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Approval for this study was obtained from the Institutional Review Board at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and at each of the participating institutions as required by individual institutional policy. This study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Perry, A.M., Diebold, J., Nathwani, B.N. et al. Non-Hodgkin lymphoma in the Far East: review of 730 cases from the international non-Hodgkin lymphoma classification project. Ann Hematol 95, 245–251 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00277-015-2543-4

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