title: Childhood non-Hodgkin lymphoma presenting as hemophagocytic syndrome.
abstract: An 8-year-old girl with a progressive systemic hemopagocytic syndrome was found to have non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) after multiple nondiagnostic biopsies. Routine histochemistry and flow cytometry demonstrated this to be a peripheral T-cell process and cytogenetics identified a t(2;5)(p23;q35). An extensive evaluation for an infectious agent failed to identify a pathogen. Treatment according to a standard lymphoma protocol produced a rapid response and the girl remains in remission without evidence of hemophagocytic syndrome 18 months from diagnosis. In children with systenic hemophagocytosis, a diagnosis of NHL should be aggressively pursued.
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatric Hematolotv-Oncology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill 27599, USA. jblat@med.unc.edu
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Blatt
authors.forename: Brent
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Weston
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Belhorn
authors.forename: Harvey
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hamrick
authors.forename: Diane
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Maia
mesh_terms: D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002648:Child; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D015616:Histiocytosis, Non-Langerhans-Cell / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy; D006801:Humans; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000473:pathology; D008228:Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy; D011379:Prognosis; D012698:Serologic Tests; D013577:Syndrome