Epidemiology of the Revised European-American Lymphoma Classification Subtypes

The revolution in molecular biology, genetics, and immunology has made old ideas about lymphoid neoplasia obsolete and led to the creation of new concepts. These new concepts have been incorporated into the International Lymphoma Group's Revised EuropeanAmerican Lymphoma (REAL) Classification (table 1) (1), proposed in 1994 and currently being adapted into the International Classification of Diseases for Oncology (ICD-O) (2). The purpose of this review is to translate what is known about the epidemiology of lymphoid neoplasms to the conceptual framework provided by the REAL in order to ease the transition to the new system.