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Clinical course and pathologic features of conjunctival non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

A report of six cases

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Abstract

Six patients with conjunctival non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) were evaluated. In all six cases the conjunctiva was the primary site of clinical presentation; four cases involved low-grade malignancy and two, intermediate-grade malignancy, according to the International Working Formulation. The disease developed within a short period of time to stage IV The poor response to therapy revealed a worse prognosis than would be expected according to the histopathologic classification. Four of the six patients died of NHL, three of them within 15 months. Comparison of these 6 cases with a group of 15 patients with orbital NHL revealed a much better prognosis in the latter patients. In spite of the fact that 4 of the 15 orbital cases showed NHL of high-grade malignancy, only 2 of them died of the lymphoma. Therefore, conjunctival NHL requires a fast and adequate diagnostic and therapeutic approach.

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Khalil, H.A., de Keizer, R.J., Kluin, P.M. et al. Clinical course and pathologic features of conjunctival non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Graefe's Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol 228, 246–251 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00920029

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00920029

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