Clinical and prognostic relevance of the Kiel classification of non‐Hodgkin lymphomas results of a prospective multicenter study by the Kiel Lymphoma Study Group

Abstract

Clinical and prognostic relevance of the Kiel classification of non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL) was investigated in 1127 patients entering a prospective multicenter observation study. Survival of the 782 (69.4 per cent) patients with low-grade malignant NHL (lymphocytic lymphomas, predominantly B-CLL, LP immunocytoma, centrocytic lymphoma, centroblastic-centrocytic lymphoma) exceeded that of the 341 patients (30.2 per cent) with high-grade malignant NHL (centroblastic, immunoblastic, lymphoblastic lymphomas). Prognosis was best in centroblastic-centrocytic lymphoma and in B-CLL and least favorable in immunoblastic and lymphoblastic lymphomas. Survival of LP immunocytoma and centrocytic lymphoma patients was intermediate after 2 to 2.5 years of follow-up. Corresponding to histopathology, pattern of survival curves of low-grade malignant NHL (slow decline, no plateauing) differed from that of high-grade malignant NHL (rapid decline, subsequent plateauing). Prognosis of B-CLL was superior to that of LP immunocytoma. Stages I and II were more frequent in centroblastic-centrocytic lymphoma (21 per cent) than in LP immunocytoma (2.5 per cent) and centrocytic lymphoma (11 per cent). Ability of radiotherapy to induce stable complete remissions in stage III of centroblastic-centrocytic lymphoma indicates prolonged restriction of lymphoma to the lymphatic system. In immunoblastic and centroblastic lymphomas, stages I and II were diagnosed in 34 and 38 per cent of cases, respectively, but only in stage I/IE of centroblastic lymphoma prolonged remissions were achieved by radiotherapy. In advanced high-grade malignant NHL marked improvement of prognosis was solely possible by induction of complete remissions whereas in corresponding low-grade malignant lymphomas also partial remissions were prognostically relevant.

DNA content and prognosis of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

“…Concerning analysis of survival of NHL according to grade, this only approached significance when assessed over 20yr, however survival at 3 yr proved significant. The survival curves according to grade (Figure 4) show great similarity to those produced by workers in Kiel (Brittinger et al, 1984). However the low and high grade curves merge at a later stage in the present study.…”

Topoisomerase IIα expression in mantle cell lymphoma: a marker of cell proliferation and a prognostic factor for clinical outcome

“…28,29 All tissue samples were pretreatment biopsy specimens fixed in 10% buffered formalin solution and embedded in paraffin wax. Table 1 includes the characteristics of the 95 patients in the study.…”

High-grade Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma Treated in Northern Norway: Treatment, Outcome, and Prognostic Factors

“…The various classification systems can lead to problems in interpreting and comparing results from different treatment centres. There is a significant difference concerning prognosis between the two major subgroups characterized morphologically as low grade (LG-NHL) and high-grade (HG-NHL) according to the Kiel classification (4)(5)(6).…”