Clinicopathologic profile of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in a rural medical college.

A prospective study was done at North Bengal Medical College, Sushrutanagar, Darjeeling, West Bengal over a period of two years. All patients diagnosed as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma were analysed for clinical presentation, classified according to the Working Formulation and staged according to Ann Arbor staging system. A lower median age (39.94 years) of onset and higher male to female ratio (3.22:1) as compared to western countries were observed. We found neck swelling was the commonest presenting symptom (65.79%) and peripheral lymphadenopathy was the commonest sign (94.74%). "B symptoms" were noted in 63.16% cases. Cervical lymph nodes were commonly involved (78.95%), followed by axillary (55.26%). Thoracic lymph nodes were enlarged in 31.58% cases and abdominal lymph nodes in 18.42% cases. We found diffuse mixed variant was the commonest (31.58%) followed by diffuse large cell (18.42%). At presentation most of the cases were of intermediate grade (55.26%) and in stage III (44.74%). We conclude that there is a distinct geographical pattern of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in respect of age, sex, grade and stage of the disease which is distinctly different from those of western countries.