Nodal and Extranodal Malignant Lymphoma in Israel: An Epidemiological Study

Summary: Records of all patients with malignant lymphoma diagnosed in Israel between 1960 and 1964 were reviewed. Evidence for different patterns of the disease in various age and population groups has been noted. Thus, in the younger age groups and in the Asian‐African segment of the population, as well as the Arabs, the disease presented more often at extranodal sites, while in older age groups and among the Europeans it was predominantly in lymph nodes or generalized at presentation. The alimentary forms were more prevalent at younger ages, and in African‐born patients and Arabs. Within the alimentary forms the small intestine was the major site in the younger age groups and the stomach in the older age groups. The different patterns of the disease suggest differential susceptibility of both subject and tissue to possible environmental carcinogens or inducing agents. In the course of a recent country‐wide study of malignant lymphomata in Israel, several differences in the site of presentation in different age groups and ethnic groups were noted. Such differences may be important both clinically and epidemiologically.