Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of large multilobated cell type. A clinicopathologic study of ten cases.

Recently, the authors described a distinct variant of T-cell lymphoma characterized morphologically by large multilobated nuclei, and clinically by a predilection for extranodal sites and a favorable prognosis. In a retrospective study of 75 cases of "histiocytic" lymphomas observed during a 13-year period, ten additional cases of this unusual variant of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma were identified. Features similar to those of the initial group of cases included a predominant extranodal distribution, particularly involving skin, subcutaneous tissue, and bone, and a favorable response to therapy. However, the retrospective cases differed in that systemic symptoms were infrequent and gonadal involvement was not observed. Recognition of this morphologically distinct subtype of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is of diagnostic, therapeutic, and prognostic significance.