Childhood non-Hodgkin's lymphoma— a study of 17 cases in Israel

Seventeen children with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma observed recently at the Chaim Sheba Medical Center are described. Two clinical forms of the disease are apparent: poorly-differentiated lymphocytic lymphosarcoma presenting with mediastinal and peripheral nodal localization and occasional bone marrow infiltration, and Burkitt's lymphoma. In the tatter, predominantly affecting the Arab population, abdominal localization was, in most cases, the presenting symptom, with CNS and jaw involvement in some patients. The Burkitt's lymphoma patients deteriorated rapidly. No relationship was found between the EB virus antibody titer and the histopathologic or clinical features of the disease. The possible relationship between the high prevalence of childhood non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and abdominal lymphoma with malabsorption on the one hand, and the low prevalence of childhood acute lymphatic leukemia in the Arab population on the other warrants further regional studies.