[Current clinical aspects of follicular lymphoma].

Follicular lymphoma (FL) represent the majority of indolent lymphoma in daily practice. The vast majority of patients present in advanced stage (Ann Arbor) III/IV. At first diagnosis painless palpable lymph nodes as well as B-symptoms and less frequently bone marrow infiltration with impairment of the normal hematopoiesis or hypersplenism are observed. The clinical course is usually characterized by only slowly progressive disease but constant relapses. During the last 10 years the clinical outcome especially in advanced stages has been remarkably improved by the introduction of antibody-based strategies (combined immuno-chemotherapy, rituximab maintenance, radioimmunotherapy) as well as optimized transplantation strategies (myeloablative high dose therapy, allogeneic transplantation with dose-reduced conditioning). Accordingly, current series report on an improved median overall survival of 15-20 years.