DIFFERENTIAL-DIAGNOSIS OF NON-HODGKIN LYMPHOMAS

Non-Hodgkin lymphomas represent a disease group that requires differential diagnosis for selecting a specific mode of therapy. In the past ten years the differential diagnostic possibilities in the field of cytology/histology were expanded, immunological methods were established for use in the routine laboratory, and the first molecular biology techniques were recently introduced. In combination with imaging-methods and clinical and laboratory findings, the differential diagnosis of non-Hodgkin lymphomas is thus a complex methodological structure. This paper summarizes the presently established and newer methods used in the diagnosis of this disease group.