Lymphoma in Taiwan: Review of 1347 neoplasms from a single institution according to the 2016 Revision of the World Health Organization Classification

Abstract

Background/Purpose Lymphoid neoplasms are heterogeneous and types of lymphoma vary in different geographic regions. In this study, we aimed at classifying the lymphoid neoplasms at our institution in Taiwan and to compare the relative frequency of various types of lymphoma in different countries. Methods We retrospectively searched the files of patients diagnosed with lymphoma at our institution from 2000 to 2015 based on the 2016 Revision of the World Health Organization classification. Results We identified 1339 patients with lymphoid neoplasms; among them, eight had two distinct types of lymphoid neoplasms. Of the 1347 neoplasms, 6.09% were Hodgkin lymphomas (HLs) and 93.31%, non-HL (NHLs). Among the 1257 NHLs, 82.66% were of B-cell lineage and 17.34% of T-cell lineage. The most common B-cell lymphoma types were diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, follicular lymphoma, and mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma. Among T-cell neoplasms, 37% cases were of nodal origin and 63% cases arose in extranodal sites. The most common nodal and extranodal T-cell neoplasms were angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma and extranodal natural killer/T-cell lymphoma, nasal type, respectively. Conclusion We analyzed the largest series of lymphomas to date from Taiwan and concluded that HL was rare and T-cell neoplasms comprised around 17% of all NHLs in Taiwan. The relative frequency of the major lymphoma types is similar in East Asian countries, with only a minor difference, but the overall pattern in the East is quite different from that in the West, with the latter showing a higher frequency of HL and a lower rate of T-cell neoplasms.