• The intermediate sub-types follicular large cell and diffuse small cleaved cell lymphoma are less common and
less well characterized. Some physicians suggest that they should be treated more like the low-grade
lymphomas, but others favor an aggressive approach.
• Lymphoblastic lymphoma is a high-grade malignancy treated with an intensive drug program similar to that
used for acute leukemia, including treatment of the central nervous system.
• The small non-cleaved cell lymphomas, including Burkitt's lymphoma, are rapidly progressive neoplasms that
are exquisitely sensitive to chemotherapy .
For each of these high-grade malignancies there is a 40 to 50 percent cure rate with conventional therapy. Limited stage and other favorable high-grade lymphomas have a high rate of cure, but more effective treatment approaches are needed for patients with the greatest tumor burden.
Because of medical problems that may occur when treatment is started, patients with extensive lymphoblastic lymphoma or Burkitt's lymphoma should receive their initial chemotherapy treatment in the hospital.
Unclassified Lymphomas With more experienced morphologic assessment and the use of ever-increasing numbers of reagents for laboratory analysis, several "new" lymphomas have been recognized. These include the mucosa-associated lymphomas (MALT) and monocytoid B-cell lymphomas, both of which are considered low-grade.
