International Lymphoma Epidemiology Consortium

Supplementals

Morton LM, Turner JJ, Cerhan JR, Linet MS, Treseler PA, Clarke CA, Jack A, Cozen W, Maynadié M, Spinelli JJ, Seniori Costantini A, Rüdiger T, Scarpa A, Zheng T, Weisenburger DD. Proposed classification of lymphoid neoplasms for epidemiologic research from the International Lymphoma Epidemiology Consortium (InterLymph). Blood. 2007 Jul 15; 110(2): 695-708.

Summary: Recent evidence suggests that there is etiologic heterogeneity among the various subtypes of lymphoid neoplasms. However, epidemiologic analyses by disease subtype have proven challenging due to the numerous clinical and pathological schemes used to classify lymphomas and lymphoid leukemias over the last several decades. On behalf of the International Lymphoma Epidemiology Consortium (InterLymph) Pathology Working Group, we present a proposed nested classification of lymphoid neoplasms to facilitate the analysis of lymphoid neoplasm subtypes in epidemiologic research. The proposed classification is based on the World Health Organization classification of lymphoid neoplasms and the International Classification of Diseases-Oncology, third edition (ICD-O-3). We also provide a translation into the proposed classification from previous classifications, including the Working Formulation, Revised European-American Lymphoma (REAL) classification, and ICD-O-2. We recommend that epidemiologic studies include analyses by lymphoma subtype to the most detailed extent allowable by sample size. The standardization of groupings for epidemiologic research of lymphoma subtypes is essential for comparing subtype-specific reports in the literature, harmonizing cases within a single study diagnosed using different systems, as well as combining data from multiple studies for the purpose of pooled analysis or meta-analysis, and will likely prove to be critical for elucidating etiologies of the various lymphoid neoplasms.