Spectrum of malignant lymphoma in Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Sabah

Lymphomas, ranked twelve among all cancers world-wide in the 1990s, in which it is more prevalent in males compared to females. A previous study on lymphomas in East Malaysia for a period of 3 years from 1981-1983 showed that the pattern of lymphomas conformed to the general pattern observed in Asia. Current study reviews lymphoma cases from the Department of Pathology, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Sabah between 1997 and 1999, with the aim of investigating if the spectrum and pattern in Sabah has since changed, a decade later. A total of 91 confirmed lymphoma cases were phenotyped with a panel of antibodies and classified using the new WHO proposed list of lymphoid neoplasms. The 1981-1983 series was reviewed and cases reclassified accordingly for comparison. There are 83 (91.2%) NHL and 8 (8.8%) HL cases in this series, a ratio of NHL to HL of 9:1. Of the 83 cases of NHL, 66 (79.5%) were confirmed B-cell type, 13 (15.7%) T-phenotype, 1(1.2%) null cell type and one case unclassified. Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma is the most prevalent, (65.1%), followed by Burkitt's lymphoma and follicular lymphoma, (10.6%) each. Lymphoma pattern concurs with the previous series from Sabah, with higher prevalence of diffuse large cell lymphoma and lower incidence of follicular lymphoma and HL, as seen elsewhere in Asia. There is an overall increase in the number of cases of NHL in the 1990s. However, the proportion of T-NHL is reduced when compared to the series in the 1980s.