Clinical And Pathological Characteristics Of Nodal Lymphomas- A Tertiary Care Centre Study In North India.

Abstract

Aim: Neoplasms originating in lymphoid tissue comprise a diverse but closely related group of neoplasms with varied clinical presentations, histomorphology, immunophenotype and genetics. . We aimed to study the clinicopathological patterns of nodal lymphomas in a teriary care centre of J&K.

Materials and Methods: This was a two year retrospective, single centre observational study conducted at the Department of Pathology, Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences. All patients with lymphomas in their lymph node biopsies were included.

Results: A total of 137 patients were enrolled in the study with male predominance. 97 were Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma and 40 Hodgkins Lymphoma. The mean age of patients was 43.5 yrs±18.9 yrs. In NHL category 5 cases (5.1%) belonged to the pediatric age group while 92(94.8%) were adults. In Hodgkins lymphoma there were 9 (22.5%) pediatric cases and 31 adults (77.5%). The most common presenting complaint of these patients was swelling in the cervical, axillary or inguinal region. The most common subtype of Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma was Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma (DLBCL) and the most common subtype of Hodgkins Lymphoma was Mixed Celllularity (MC).

Conclusion: We conclude that most of the nodal lymphomas in our region are Non-Hodgkins lymphoma with a male predominance. Cervical lymph nodes are more commonly affected and the most common subtype is DLBCL. Peripheral T-Cell Lymphoma NOS is the most common nodal T cell lymphoma. HL is the predominant nodal lymphoma in children and mixed cellularity is the commonest subtype. A unimodal age peak is found in HL in our population as against the bimodal peak in Western countries. 

Significance:  The epidemiological differences in our population can provide an insight into the biology of nodal lymphomas and pave the way for future research. There should be awareness in our population regarding screening for palpable nodal swellings and early reporting if present.