title: Non-Hodgkin's lymphomas: characteristics of long-term survivors following conservative treatment.
abstract: A most important set of prognostic factors for survival among 467 patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma receiving conservative treatment was determined statistically by the Cox proportional hazards model. Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma was diagnosed in these patients between 1958 and 1969. Initial biopsy material was classified according to the Working Formulation, and the Rappaport, Kiel, and Lukes-Collins systems. The Cox analysis identified a group of 37 patients with a median survival of 150 months. These patients had the following characteristics: small lymphocyte, plasmacytoid lymphocyte, small cleaved, large cleaved or non-cleaved follicular center cell histologic subtype (Lukes-Collins); no bulky involvement of mesenteric nodes or critical organs--kidney, urinary tract, or pleura; stages I to III disease (78 percent stage I or IE); no B symptoms; age below 60 years; initial resection as a reflection of localized disease. Patients with advanced-stage non-Hodgkin's lymphoma receiving conservative treatment have a relatively short survival (median, less than five years) regardless of histologic subtype.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000473:pathology; D008228:Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012189:Retrospective Studies