Management of high-grade lymphomas

High-grade non-Hodgkin's lymphomas generally refer to immunoblastic lymphoma, lymphoblastic lymphoma, and small-noncleaved-cell lymphoma, three histological subtypes that were associated with the worst prognosis at the time of categorization 16 years ago in the Working Formulation for Clinical Usage. Small-noncleaved-cell lymphoma was classified further into Burkitt's lymphoma and non-Burkitt's lymphoma. The treatment of high-grade lymphomas in adults remains somewhat unfavorable today. In children, however, survival rates of 80% to 90% are being achieved with intensive short duration protocols. In this article, the management of Burkitt, Burkitt-like, and lymphoblastic lymphomas is discussed as is the possibility of improved survival in adults using treatment strategies developed for pediatric patients.