Childhood non-Hodgkin's lymphoma: prognostic relevance of clinical stages and histologic subgroups.

Seventy-nine consecutive children with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma were treated with a uniform intensive radiotherapy-chemotherapy program including high-dose MTX and CNS prophylaxis. Burkitt-type NHL was diagnosed in 44% and convoluted cell-type NHL in 33%. Complete remission rate was 97.5%. Forty-eight of 79 children (61%) remain progression-free after 18-78 months of follow-up. Patients belonging to the Burkitt type subgroup showed a peculiar clinical behavior as well as a significantly shorter survival than the other NHL patients (3-year overall survival rates of 50% vs. 72%, respectively). Clinical stages were related to the progression-free survival. It is concluded that treatment should be tailored according to the histology (Burkitt-type NHL vs. other histologic types) and the clinical stage.