Clinicopathologic correlations were made in 50 patients with follicular large cell (FLC) lymphoma to better define the influence of a variety of clinical and pathologic features on survival and the potential for continuous freedom from disease. The 5and 10-year actuarial survivals for the entire group of patients are 77% and 63%, respectively, but disease-free survival is only 46% at 5 years and 22% at 10 years. No significant survival differences were found with various treatment approaches, although a single relapse occurred after 3 years among patients treated with modern combination chemotherapy containing doxorubicin. Median survivals of approximately 10 years despite recurrent disease are characteristic of the majority of follicular lymphomas. Furthermore, the reproducibility of cytologic diagnosis among follicular lymphomas is known to be variable. At this time, it is unclear whether intensive chemotherapy will cure a significant number of FLC patients or novel approaches are necessary as for the other follicular lymphomas.
Cuncer 59:1470-1474, 1987.
OLLICULAR LARGE CELL (FLC) (nodular histiocytic)
F lymphoma is the least common of the nodular non-Hodgkin's lymphomas. The histopathologic appearance is characterized by a predominance of large cleaved or noncleaved cells in a follicular or nodular pattern.''2 A partial follicular pattern, with diffuse effacement of architecture elsewhere, is seen more often than with the other nodular lymphomas. Follicular large cell has been considered to be an "aggressive nodular lymphoma" by several authors, although most have reported on small numbers of patient^.^-^ Based on survival data, FLC is classified in the Working Formulation as intermediate in grade together with its totally diffuse counterpart, diffuse large cell (histiocytic) lymphoma.2 The potential for longterm disease-free survival is well recognized in diffuse large cell (DLC) lymphoma and the progression or recurrence of disease parallels survival data. In contrast, patients with follicular mixed (FM) and follicular small cleaved cell (FSC) lymphoma may experience prolonged survival despite a continuous rate of relapse from complete remission after The current study was undertaken to de-