[Chromosome abnormalities and prognosis in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma]

Clonal chromosome abnormalities are found in most patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The role of the chromosome abnormalities in predicting the prognosis of lymphoma patients has not been fully clarified, because of different histological classifications being used in different areas and the complexity of the chromosome abnormalities often found in lymphoma. Recent studies have shown distinct correlation of rather rare abnormalities with specific histologic and immunologic phenotypes and prognoses. Many chromosome abnormalities seem to specifically correlate with these parameters of non-Hodgkin's lymphomas, as seen in leukemias. The chromosome data also seem to support the histological observations that some lymphomas may show uneven geographical distributions.