Results of multiparameter studies of B-cell lymphomas.

As advances in our understanding of the lymphoreticular system are achieved, so becomes the need to adjust our concepts of the corresponding malignant neoplasms. This paper relates the various histologic and clinical types of malignant lymphoma to current knowledge of the morphology and behavior of the lymphocyte. Aspects of normal lymphocyte morphology and function that appear to govern the histologic appearances and behavioral patterns of lymphocyte-derived neoplasms include the radical morphologic and functional changes occurring in the course of lymphocyte transformation, the division of lymphocytes into two or more functioning subgroups, and lymphocyte circulation and homing. Surface marker and immunohistologic studies of B-cell lymphomas provide support for the relationship between various neoplastic types and these aspects of normal lymphocytic function and behavior and for the logical extension of this concept to the interrelationship between these malignant lymphomas.