non-hodgkin lymphoma (nhl) in pakistan

lymphomas are classified as hodgkin’s and non-hodgkin’s lymphomas (hl nhl) nhl being further sub-divided into b, t and null cell categories on the basis of who classification. with a few exceptions worldwide, b-nhl are more common, accounting approximately 80-85% of all cases of nhl compared to t-nhl, which accounts for about 10-15% of all nhl cases. the incidence of nhl has shown a steady increase and attention is being focused on the possible causes of this increase. epidemiologic studies indicate that environmental factors do play a role in the causation of nhl, such as drugs, pesticides, solvents, hair dyes, viruses (ebv, htlv-1, hepatitic c and hiv) and helicobacter pylori. hence many different environmental factors of risk acting on large segments of the population can contribute for increase of nhl.