[On the dissemination of B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphomas at the time of diagnosis].

The staging procedure as successfully used in Hodgkin's disease has proved to be less informative with respect to prognosis and therapy in the case of non-Hodgkin malignant lymphomas. This might be explained by the greatly differing degrees of dissemination of non-Hodgkin lymphomas at the time of diagnosis. In the present study, the dissemination of B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphomas diagnosed according to the Kiel classification was determined on the basis of clinical and pathomorphological findings. At the time of diagnosis, non-Hodgkin lymphomas of low grade malignancy tend to be statistically more disseminated and those of high grade malignancy more localized. It is assumed that this fundamental difference in dissemination between non-Hodgkin lymphomas of low grade and those of high grade malignancy can be explained by changes in the recirculatory properties of lymphomas cells and by some of their atypical features.