title: Classification of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in South-eastern Europe: review of 632 cases from the international non-Hodgkin lymphoma classification project.
abstract: The distribution of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) subtypes varies around the world, but a systematic study of South-eastern Europe (SEEU) has never been done. Therefore, we evaluated the relative frequencies of NHL subtypes in three SEEU countries--Croatia, Romania and Macedonia. Five expert haematopathologists reviewed 632 consecutive cases of newly diagnosed NHL from the three SEEU countries using the World Health Organization classification. The results were compared to 399 cases from North America (NA) and 580 cases from Western Europe (WEU). The proportions of B- and T-cell NHL and the sex distribution in SEEU were similar to WEU and NA. However, the median ages of patients with low- and high-grade B-NHL in SEEU (60 and 59 years, respectively) were significantly lower than in NA (64 and 68 years, respectively; P < 0·05). SEEU had a significantly lower proportion of low-grade B-NHL (46·6%) and higher proportion of high-grade B-NHL (44·5%) compared to both WEU (54·5% and 36·4%, respectively) and NA (56·1% and 34·3%, respectively). There were no significant differences in the relative frequencies of T-NHL subtypes. This study provides new insights into differences in the relative frequencies of NHL subtypes in different geographic regions. Epidemiological studies are needed to better characterize and explain these differences.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Cytology, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia.
authors.forename: Snjezana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dotlic
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.
authors.forename: Anamarija M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Perry
authors.affiliation: Institute of Pathology, Medical Faculty, University of 'Ss Cyril and Methodius', Skopje, Macedonia.
authors.forename: Gordana
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Petrusevska
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomic Pathology, Oncology Institute 'Prof. dr. I. Chiricuta', Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
authors.forename: Bogdan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Fetica
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomic Pathology and Cytology, Hotel-Dieu Hospital, University Denis Diderot, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Jacques
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Diebold
authors.affiliation: Section of Pathology and Leeds Institute of Molecular Medicine, St. James University Hospital, Leeds, UK.
authors.forename: Kenneth A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: MacLennan
authors.affiliation: Institute of Pathology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Hans K
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Müller-Hermelink
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Bharat N
authors.initials: BN
authors.lastname: Nathwani
authors.affiliation: Center for Collaboration on Research, Design and Analysis, College of Public Health, Omaha, NE, USA.
authors.forename: Eugene
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Boilesen
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bast
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA.
authors.forename: James O
authors.initials: JO
authors.lastname: Armitage
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Dennis D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Weisenburger
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000473:pathology*; D005061:Europe, Eastern / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008228:Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / Q000145:classification* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000473:pathology*
keywords: Croatia; Macedonia; Romania; South-eastern Europe; non-Hodgkin lymphoma