Nucleolar organizer regions (NORs) are loops of DNA which occur in the nucleoli of cells and which possess ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes. The numbers and/or configurations of NORs have been thought to be related to cellular activities. To assess the applicability of NORs associated protein (Ag-NORs) in the field of diagnostic histopathology, a silver staining was done in paraffin sections of malignant lymphomas, tonsils and reactive lymph nodes and the numbers of Ag-NORs in the nuclei of low-grade and those of high-grade lymphomas were compared. A significant difference was found between the numbers of Ag-NORs in the nuclei of low-grade lymphoma (a mean of 1.3 per nucleus) and those of high-grade lymphomas (a mean of 4.2 to 8.3 per nucleus). The Ag-NORs were often observed in nuclei in areas where nucleoli themselves were not visible in H and E stain. It is suggested that this method would be of great value in the field of tumor histopathology.
Histological Techniques ; Humans ; Korea ; Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin/ethnology/*pathology ; Nucleolus Organizer Region/*pathology ; *Silver ; *Staining and Labeling

Nucleolar organizer regions (NORs) are loops of DNA which occur in the nucleoli of cells and which possess ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes. The numbers and/or configurations of NORs have been thought to be related to cellular activities. To assess the applicability of NORs associated protein (Ag-NORs) in the field of diagnostic histopathology, a silver staining was done in paraffin sections of malignant lymphomas, tonsils and reactive lymph nodes and the numbers of Ag-NORs in the nuclei of low-grade and those of high-grade lymphomas were compared. A significant difference was found between the numbers of Ag-NORs in the nuclei of low-grade lymphoma (a mean of 1.3 per nucleus) and those of high-grade lymphomas (a mean of 4.2 to 8.3 per nucleus). The Ag-NORs were often observed in nuclei in areas where nucleoli themselves were not visible in H and E stain. It is suggested that this method would be of great value in the field of tumor histopathology.
Histological Techniques ; Humans ; Korea ; Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin/ethnology/*pathology ; Nucleolus Organizer Region/*pathology ; *Silver ; *Staining and Labeling

A retrospective histological study of 540 malignant lymphomas diagnosed at the Department of Pathology of the Seoul National University from 1976 through 1986 is presented. Malignant lymphoma is the 10th most common malignant tumor in Korea, comprising 3.07% of all malignancy during period of study. Among malignant lymphomas non-Hodgkin's lymphoma accounted for 82% and accordingly the Hodgkin's disease was for 18%. The most common type of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma was diffuse histiocytic lymphoma of Rappaport. Follicular lymphoma was very rare, comprising only 2.3%. T-cell lymphoma accounted for 9.6% of non-Hodgkin's lymphomas, the most frequent type being lymphoblastic lymphoma. Immunoblastic sarcoma and mycosis fungoides were occasionally seen but there was no case of pleomorphic adult T-cell lymphoma. Among Hodgkin's diseases, mixed cellularity type was the most common type, and nodular sclerosis type was relatively rare.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Hodgkin Disease/*ethnology/pathology ; Humans ; Infant ; Korea ; Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin/epidemiology/*ethnology/pathology ; Male ; Middle Aged

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Although the incidence of T-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) is higher in Far East Asia than in Western countries, its incidence and clinical course in Korea are not well-defined. Therefore, we assessed the relative frequency and clinical features of T-cell NHL in Korea. METHODS: We performed a retrospetcive analysis of 586 patients with NHL. RESULTS: 101 (17.2%) had T-cell NHL. The most frequent subtypes of T-cell NHL were extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma, nasal type (NASAL), peripheral T-cell lymphoma, unspecified type (PTCL-U), and anaplastic large cell lymphoma, T/null cell, primary systemic type (ALCL). The seven pathological subtypes could be classified into three prognostic subgroups. When patients with the three most frequent subtypes were grouped together, their survival was reflected in the International Prognostic Index (IPI) scores. Univariate analysis of IPI elements and other clinical features showed that clinical stage and extranodal sites were significant predictors of survival. Cox multivariate analysis showed that the number of extranodal sites was the only independent prognostic indicator. CONCLUSIONS: The relative frequency of T-cell NHL seems to be decreasing in Korea, although NASAL remains frequent. Korean patients with ALCL appear to have an unfavorable prognosis. Large-scale studies are warranted for Korean patients with T-cell NHL.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Kaplan-Meiers Estimate ; Korea/epidemiology ; Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin/ethnology/*mortality/*pathology ; Lymphoma, T-Cell/ethnology/*mortality/*pathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Predictive Value of Tests ; Prognosis ; Proportional Hazards Models ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Assessment ; Time Factors ; Young Adult