Hematologic Malignancies Program

Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma

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Types of Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma

There are many types of non-Hodgkin's lymphomas. Some types spread more quickly than others. The type is determined by the histology, or how the cancer cells look under a microscope. The histologies for adult non-Hodgkin's lymphoma are divided into two groups: indolent lymphomas, which are slower growing and have fewer symptoms, and aggressive lymphomas, which grow more quickly. Aggressive lymphomas are seen more frequently in patients who are HIV-positive (AIDS-related lymphoma).

The most common types of indolent non-Hodgkin's lymphoma include:

Other types of indolent non-Hodgkin's lymphoma are lymphoplasmacytoid lymphoma, monocytoid B-cell lymphoma, mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma, splenic marginal zone lymphoma, hairy cell leukemia, and cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (Mycosis fungoides/Sezary syndrome).

The most common types of aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma include:

Other types of aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma are anaplastic large-cell lymphoma, adult T-cell lymphoma/leukemia, mantle cell lymphoma, intravascular lymphomatosis, angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, angiocentric lymphoma, intestinal T-cell lymphoma, primary mediastinal B-cell lymphoma, peripheral T- cell lymphoma, lymphoblastic lymphoma, post-transplantation lymphoproliferative disorder, true histiocytic lymphoma, primary central nervous system lymphoma, and primary effusion lymphoma.

There are three major types of non-Hodgkin's lymphomas that affect children: lymphoblastic lymphoma; small noncleaved cell lymphoma (either Burkitt's lymphoma or non-Burkitt's lymphoma); and large cell lymphoma.


This page was last updated on: March 3, 2008.