Etiological, clinical and prognostic significance of the T-B immunological classification of primary acute lymphoid leukemias and non Hodgkin's lymphomas.

The discovery of B or T markers on neoplastic cells in acute lymphoid leukemia (ALL) is correlated with a poor prognosis, while a cure expectancy of 50% can be expected for null cell ALL patients of all ages. In the case of Non Hodgkin's malignant lymphoma the patients with the T cell types carry a poor prognosis, while the patients with a B cell type present an 85% cure expectancy, and those with the null cell type a 65% cure expectancy. The correlation between immune markers on the one hand, and WHO cyto-histological typing and clinical presentation on the other, is reported.