Signs, Symptoms and Complications of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma According to Grade and Stage in South Iran

Background: Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) is a heterogeneous type of neoplasm of the lymphatic system.To have a more accurate and early diagnosis we need to know signs, symptoms and complications of lymphomain early stages besides pathology and immunohistochemistry. Materials and
Methods: This prospective studyincluded 110 cases of NHL that were followed since February 2012 till November 2013. Biopsies were takenfrom all the patients besides bone marrow study. Signs and symptoms were categorized into “B” symptoms,general, lymphadenopathy and extranodal involvement and we compared the frequencies by stage and grade.
Results: Of 110 cases, 88.9% had B-cell and 11.1% T-cell type with mean age 48.5±18.6 years. “B” symptomsand lymphadenopathy were more common in men. Cervical lymphadenopathy was the most common sign(44.8%). and hematologic, bone marrow, bone and neurologic lesions were the most common complications.All complications were more common in males. “B” symptoms were seen mostly in stage III, general signs andsymptoms in stage IV, and lymphadenopathy in stage II. Intermediate grade was also the most common in allsigns and symptoms. In this study 12 (10.9%) patients had relapse, with neurologic and bone marrow as themost common sites of tumor recurrence.
Conclusions: There is a meaningful relationship between male genderfor NHL and anemia that can be due in part to higher incidence of bone marrow involvement and stage IVdisease in male cases. We also found a strong relationship between low grade NHL and age. On the other handextranodal involvement is more common in female groups.