[Non Hodgkin's lymphoma in adolescents]

In France, adolescents (15-20 years) with non Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) are referred either to paediatric or to adult onco-haematological departments. According to data obtained from regional tumour registries (covering about 10% of France), their 5 year survival rate was 59% whereas it was 87% for children (< or =14 years) treated for NHL during a similar period of time. We reviewed the management of NHL either by the paediatricians or the onco-hematologists for adults. The categories of NHL that are reviewed and whose clinical and biological characteristics are presented are: Burkitt, lymphoblastic and large cell, either B or anaplastic. This review shows that, in most series, outcome was better in children than in adults. This raises the reasons of this difference: is it due to the different therapeutic approaches, to different tolerance of chemotherapy, to different biology within the same histological type ? Further studies specific to the adolescents are needed to better know the biology of their lymphoma and to determine the best therapeutic approach.