The Immunobiology of Human Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphomas

Abstract

The non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas represent an important interface between basic immunobiology and lymphocyte pathophysiology. In the last decade, the rapidly expanding knowledge of immunocytes has been applied to this spectrum of diseases and has resulted in more scientifically accurate classifications. Of perhaps greater import, however, is the nascent realization that these diseases represent malignant counterparts of normal lymphocyte development, and that the concept of a maturational block originally applied to Chronic Lymphatic Leukemia (CLL) (Preud’homme and Seligmann, 1972) may be operative in other compartments of the spectrum. If this proves correct, these diseases may afford an opportunity to study relatively homogenous populations of cells at different stages of development and thus gain knowledge of the developmental processes of normal lymphocyte subpopulations. In addition, this spectrum may permit a dissection of those elements that define pathophysiology and determine the clinical presentation of disease. These must include the cell type affected (T, B, null) and the roles of lymphocyte homing patterns and immunoregulatory influences.