[Non-Hodgkin's lymphomas in children].

A retrospective study of 85 children with non-Hodgkin' s lymphoma diagnosed and treated in the period of 1963-1974 was undertaken to asses clinical characteristics, pronostic factors and survival. This malignancy was more frequent in males between ages 3 and 4. The histopathologic diagnosis revealed a lymphosarcoma lymphoblastic predominance (77.6%). The clinical extent at diagnosis was 14% for stage I disease, 48% for stage II, 10.6% for stage III and 38.4% for stage IV. The sites of origen were gastrointestinal tract, peripheral lymph nodes, mediastinum, Waldeyer's ring and extralymphatic sites. Leukemic picture developed in 20 children (23.5%) and central nervous system involvement occurred in 19 (23.3%). Survival was not dependant on age or sex. The prognostic value of the histologic type could not be clearly established in the present series. Survival was correlated with clinical stage and anatopmic presentation. The overall 5-year survival was 29%; survival prior to 1968 was 9% compared with 41% for children treated from 1968 to 1974. We conclude that the survival improvement in recent years is dependant on an aggressive multimodal therapeutic approach. Survival of children treated with this procedure reached 52%, compared to 25% for children who received a single agent therapy.