Early nodal and extra-nodal non-Hodgkin's lympnomas

There were 54 Stage I and 38 Stage II patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphomas treated with curative radiotherapy between 1964 and 1975. The initial biopsy material was reclassified according to the criteria of Rappaport el at.10 The frequency of nodular vs diffuse histological pattern was 26% vs 74%. The survival and recurrence free survival were significantly superior for the nodular pattern as compared with diffuse in both Stages I and II. The sites of first recurrence were evaluated. Fourteen out of 20 Stage I and 18 out of 26 Stage II patients recurred in one of the nodal areas only as their first site of recurrence. In 50%, this was in contiguous lymph node areas only. Extra-nodal non-Hodgkin's lymphomas survival and recurrence-free survival rates at five years were identical.