Inflammatory cells and immune microenvironment in malignant lymphoma

It has become clear that the biological and clinical behaviour of malignant lymphoma is not only determined by the properties of the tumour cells themselves but are also largely by the interaction of the tumour cells with their nonmalignant microenvironment. The composition and functional status of the tumour microenvironment is highly variable between different classes of malignant lymphoma and may provide both growth-supportive and growth suppressive signals via components of the adaptive and innate immune response. In this review, the functional interactions and clinical consequences of these insights are discussed in indolent and aggressive B-cell lymphomas and in classical Hodgkin's lymphoma.