title: Non-Hodgkin lymphoma in the Far East: review of 730 cases from the international non-Hodgkin lymphoma classification project.
abstract: Large and systematic studies of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) in the Far East (FE) with good comparative data are scarce in the literature. In this study, five expert hematopathologists classified 730 consecutive cases of newly-diagnosed NHL from four sites in the FE (excluding Japan) using the World Health Organization classification. The results were compared to 399 cases from North America (NA). We found a significantly higher male to female ratio in the FE compared to NA (1.7 versus 1.1; p < 0.05). The median ages of patients with low-grade (LG) and high-grade (HG) B-NHL in the FE (58 and 51 years, respectively) were significantly lower than in NA (64 and 68 years, respectively). The FE had a significantly lower relative frequency of B-NHL and a higher frequency of T-NHL (82 vs. 18 %) compared to NA (90.5 vs. 9.5 %). Among mature B cell lymphomas, the FE had a significantly higher relative frequency of HG B-NHL (54.8 %) and a lower frequency of LG B-NHL (27.2 %) than NA (34.3 and 56.1 %, respectively). Diffuse large B cell lymphoma was more common in the FE (49.4 %) compared to NA (29.3 %), whereas the relative frequency of follicular lymphoma was lower in the FE (9.4 %) compared to NA (33.6 %). Among T-NHL, nasal NK/T cell NHL was more frequent in the FE (5.2 %) compared to NA (0 %). Peripheral T cell lymphoma was also more common in the FE (9.1 %) than in NA (5.3 %). Further epidemiologic studies are needed to better understand the pathobiology of these differences.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of Manitoba, 820 Sherbrook Street, Winnipeg, MB, R3A 1R9, Canada.
authors.forename: Anamarija M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Perry
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomic Pathology and Cytology, Hotel-Dieu, University Denis Diderot, 75181 Paris Cedex 04, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Jacques
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Diebold
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, City of Hope National Medical Center, 1500 East Duarte Road, Duarte, CA, 91010, USA.
authors.forename: Bharat N
authors.initials: BN
authors.lastname: Nathwani
authors.affiliation: Section of Pathology and Leeds Institute of Molecular Medicine, St. James University Hospital, Beckett Street, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS9 7TF, UK.
authors.forename: Kenneth A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: MacLennan
authors.affiliation: Institute of Pathology, University of Würzburg, Josef-Schneider-Str. 2, Würzburg, 97080, Germany.
authors.forename: Hans K
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Müller-Hermelink
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center, 987680 Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198, USA.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bast
authors.affiliation: Center for Collaboration on Research, Design and Analysis, College of Public Health, University of Nebraska Medical Center, 42nd and Emile, Omaha, NE, 68198, USA.
authors.forename: Eugene
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Boilesen
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center, 987680 Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198, USA.
authors.forename: James O
authors.initials: JO
authors.lastname: Armitage
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, City of Hope National Medical Center, 1500 East Duarte Road, Duarte, CA, 91010, USA. dweisenburger@coh.org.
authors.forename: Dennis D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Weisenburger
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D005202:Asia, Eastern / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D038622:Internationality; D008228:Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / Q000145:classification* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014944:World Health Organization
keywords: Epidemiology; Far East; Non-Hodgkin lymphoma; North America