Clinical aspects of non-Hodgkin's lymphomas presenting with discordant histologic subtypes

Abstract
From July 1971 to December 1980, 323 cases of non‐Hodgkin's lymphoma were randomized into prospective clinical trials at Stanford University Medical Center. Analysis of these cases revealed 30 patients (9.3% of the total) with disease of different histologic subtypes at separate anatomic sites (discordant lymphomas). On further analysis, 16 of these patients (4.8% of the total) were found to have disease of different histological and prognostic types. Recommendation is made that initial therapy be directed at the poor‐prognosis component of these tumors. Relapses of both favorable prognostic types and unfavorable histologic types were seen, and further biopsy at the time of relapse is recommended in these cases.