Extranodal Lymphomas: Pathology and Management PDF

Preface

When two decades ago we began to be interested in the study of the extranodal lymphomas (i.e. those primarily arising outside the lymph nodes), only scanty literature and no textbooks were available on this topic.

At that time, with the exception of cutaneous T-cell lymphomas, whose pathological and clinical features had long been recognized as being clearly different from those of nodal lymphoma, no lymphoma classification was taking into account the site of origin.

The importance of site of origin slowly began to be acknowledged following the description of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphomas in the 1980s, but only in 1994, PG Isaacson and AJ Norton published their textbook on extranodal lymphomas, which (despite being designed to provide a practical help to the hematopathologist for the diagnosis rather than addressing the therapeutic problems) become an important and stimulating reference also for clinicians and biologists involved in the research into this fascinating group of lymphomas. Indeed, that book contributed to the general acceptance of the MALT lymphoma concept, making many clinicians aware of the specific clinical and therapeutical problems posed by the site of origin. In the late 1990s the attitude of the scientific community towards the extranodal lymphomas was changing and a shared interest generated the International Extranodal Lymphoma Study Group (IELSG), with the precise aim of improving our understanding of extranodal lymphomas. The IELSG, by bringing together numerous scientists from different institutions, allowed data to be collected from a sufficient number of patients to successfully study specific extranodal sites of involvement.

Now, more than 10 years later, we believe that the time is right for another textbook on the extranodal lymphoma. The REAL and later the WHO lymphoma classifications have been published, recognizing not only the MALT lymphomas as a specific extranodal entity but also several other peculiar ‘extra nodal' conditions (e.g. within the group of diffuse large B-cell lymphomas, the intravascular lymphoma and the primary mediastinal lymphoma). Lymphoma treatments have also changed over time.

This book is aimed at providing an overview of today's exceedingly abundant information on this no-longer neglected group of lymphomas, with special attention to the advances that have been most recently reported. Most chapters have been written in collaboration with authors of different institutions or different specialties in order to have the most balanced synopsis of the present knowledge. The authors have tried to address the extranodal lymphoma in the context of the novel acquisitions on the biology and pathology of these entities and also to provide clinical information to help colleagues in the difficult task of choosing the proper treatment for each individual situation.

We must express our sincere and grateful thanks to all the authors, most of them belonging to the IELSG, for their commitment. We are particularly indebted to Olga Jackson for the outstanding secretarial and logistic assistance and gratefully acknowledge our Publishers for their patience in waiting for some very delayed chapters and their ability to complete the task within a very tight time schedule.