ARTICLE

Year : 2012  |  Volume : 3  |  Issue : 4  |  Page : 153-158

Current Concepts in Lymphoma Biology: Effect on Management and Outcome

Irfan Maghfoor¹, Saad Akhtar¹, Nasir Bakshi^2
1 Section of Medical Oncology, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
² Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Correspondence Address:

Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None

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The understanding of the pathobiology of lymphomas has improved significantly over the past 2 decades. This development has led to multiple revisions in the lymphoma classification of the International Working Formulation through French-American-British and Revised European American Lymphoma (REAL) to the most recent modification of the World Health Organization (WHO) lymphoma classification1. The most recent modification of the WHO lymphoma classification lists approximately 100 subtypes of lymphoid malignancy2. Although there have been improvements in the management and outcomes of patients, there has been a significant lag in the individualization of therapies for different types of lymphomas. For instance, Fisher et al. reported in 1992 that cyclophosphamide, hydroxyadriamycin, vincristine, prednisone (CHOP) therapy was the standard of care for all diffuse large B-cell lymphomas (DLBCL)3. A decade later, European investigators (Coiffier et al. and Pfreundschuh et al.) reported outcome improvements in DLBCL patients following the addition of an anti-CD20 antibody to standard CHOP chemotherapy4,5. However, several investigators reported that all DLBCLs are not created equal6-8. A decade later, we still do not know how best to approach germinal center B-cell (GCB) vs. activated B-cell (ABC) types of DLBCL. A detailed discussion of the new understanding of lymphoma biology and management is beyond the scope of this report. We will, however, attempt to focus on some of the more important advances related to the pathology and management of lymphomas that have come forth in the past decade.