Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

Pediatric lymphomas are the third most common group of malignancies in children and adolescents. Unlike lymphomas in adults, pediatric lymphomas are diffuse, aggressive neoplasms with a propensity for widespread dissemination. Intensification of conventional treatment approaches along with improvements in supportive care have resulted in dramatic improvement in event-free survival rates of close to 90% in patients with B-cell lymphomas and only slightly lower in patients with T-cell lymphomas. Lymphoid neoplasms arise because of genetic changes that result in altered growth and differential patterns of lymphoid cells. The characterization of these molecular abnormalities and an understanding of their consequences has led to new approaches to diagnosis and the detection of minimal residual disease and also provides the basis for the future development of novel treatment approaches targeted specifically to the neoplastic cells.