Clinical, pathologic and immunologic features of patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in a leukemic phase. A retrospective analysis of 34 patients.

A retrospective review of 34 patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and a leukemic phase was undertaken. The median survival after onset of a leukemic phase was 30 months for patients with nodular poorly differentiated lymphocytic lymphoma which was significantly longer than 19 months for diffuse poorly differentiated lymphocytic lymphoma, and 2 months for diffuse histiocytic and undifferentiated lymphoma. Clinical features of patients with diffuse histologies that contributed to a poor prognosis included advanced stage of disease as well as age. Underlying lymph node histology also defined features of the leukemic phase which included duration, peak leukocyte count, and in some instances, distinctive morphologic characteristics of circulating malignant cells. Although small sample size did not permit definitive correlations of immunological subtype and survival, heterogeneity was noted, suggesting that clearer stratification of these patients with immunologic techniques may be useful in assessing prognosis in future investigations.