RIMARY MALIGNANT TUMORS OF LYMPHOID
P origin are usually considered to be fatal in children; in addition, these diseases usually have a more rapid and difficult course in the younger age group than that seen in adults. The problems of diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis as related to morphology are obscured by the multiple classifications in different institutions; attempts have been made to achieve a standard classification applicable to all cases, but these have not been successful. One pathological diagnosis that has been constant in most classifications is that of reticulum cell sarcoma (RCS) and studies o f prognosis indicate that this is the most malignant of all the lymphoid tumors. Due to the paucity of studies limited specifically to RCS in children, this study of 45 cases is presented in the hope that it will provide a better understanding of the clinical picture, treatment, and prognosis, as well as an increased awareness of this specific disease process.
CASE MATERIAL
This series of 45 cases of RCS is composed of children with that diagnosis admitted to the Pediatric Service of Memorial Hospital for Cancer and Allied Diseases from 1933 through 1961. Some have been previously reported in general studies of lymphosarcoma in child r e a 4 ~ 5 9 7 , s The group includes 35 male and 10 female patients; the youngest at the time of diagnosis was 15 months of age and the oldest 14 years, with a mean age of 7.4 years. The composition of the group is shown in Table 1.
Cases of RCS of bone have been excluded because of site of origin. This may be an oversight because of similarity of progression of disease, but all cases included have arisen in lymphoid tissue. Tissue biopsy and/or post-From the Department of Pediatrics, Memorial Hospital for Cancer and Allied Diseases, 444 E. 68th St.