Extranodal non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

From 1964 to 1977, 42 patients with Stages I and II non-Hodgkin's lymphoma involving the extranodal sites were seen and treated with curative intent by radiotherapy in the Department of Therapeutic Radiology at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center. The initial pathologic specimen was reclassified according to the criteria of Rappaport et al. Diffuse histology was the most common histologic type found in 80% of the patients. The five-year actuarial survival and disease-free survival rates were found to be almost identical at 74% for Stage I and 38% for Stage II patients. The most common sites of origin were in the head and neck area in 19 patients and gastrointestinal tract in 15 patients. The sites of involvement in the head and neck area were many and varied, with parotid and nasal cavity being the most frequent. Survival rates and disease-free survival rates for different histologic types, various sites, and their patterns of recurrence are presented.