Clinicopathologic characteristics of T-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma: a single institution experience.
OBJECTIVE
Although the incidence of T-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) is higher in Far East Asia than in Western countries, its incidence and clinical course in Korea are not well-defined. Therefore, we assessed the relative frequency and clinical features of T-cell NHL in Korea.


METHODS
We performed a retrospetcive analysis of 586 patients with NHL.


RESULTS
101 (17.2%) had T-cell NHL. The most frequent subtypes of T-cell NHL were extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma, nasal type (NASAL), peripheral T-cell lymphoma, unspecified type (PTCL-U), and anaplastic large cell lymphoma, T/null cell, primary systemic type (ALCL). The seven pathological subtypes could be classified into three prognostic subgroups. When patients with the three most frequent subtypes were grouped together, their survival was reflected in the International Prognostic Index (IPI) scores. Univariate analysis of IPI elements and other clinical features showed that clinical stage and extranodal sites were significant predictors of survival. Cox multivariate analysis showed that the number of extranodal sites was the only independent prognostic indicator.


CONCLUSIONS
The relative frequency of T-cell NHL seems to be decreasing in Korea, although NASAL remains frequent. Korean patients with ALCL appear to have an unfavorable prognosis. Large-scale studies are warranted for Korean patients with T-cell NHL.
Ko
Ock Bae
OB
Department of Oncology, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Songpa-gu, Seoul, Korea.
Lee
Dae Ho
DH
Kim
Sang We
SW
Lee
Jung Shin
JS
Kim
Shin
S
Huh
Jooryung
J
Suh
Cheolwon
C
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D044466:Asian People; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D007723:Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D008228:Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / Q000208:ethnology / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology*; D016399:Lymphoma, T-Cell / Q000208:ethnology / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult