[Malignant non-Hodgkin lymphomas--a review]

Malignant non-Hodgkin's lymphomas are a heterogeneous group of neoplasms with different natural histories and prognoses. Often the patient is first seen by the ENT-specialist with cervical lymphadenopathy as the first complaint. In Germany the histological Kiel-classification is most often used. This is based on the normal structures of the lymphatic tissue as the basis. Therapy is quite different for the various lymphomas depending on histology and stage of disease. Chemotherapy of varying intensity, radiotherapy, or both may be used. Prognosis is less favourable than in Hodgkin's disease but some subgroups have a chance of cure even in advanced stages and others run a natural course over several years without treatment.