Editorial

MALT Lymphomas - A Closer Look in the Genomics Era

Authors: Prathap Bandipalliam, MD

Abstract

In 1832, an article titled “On some morbid appearances of the absorbent glands and spleen” was published in the journal ‘Medico-Chirurgical Transactions’.1 The author was Thomas Hodgkin (Fig. 1). Thus began an era of the study of a distinct group of tumors involving the lymphatic system, what we refer to today as the ‘lymphomas.’ Presently, lymphoid neoplasms are usually classified into Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphomas. The current WHO classification describes more than 30 different types of non-Hodgkin lymphomas.2 Among these, the three most common types include the diffuse large B-cell lymphomas (approximately 31%), follicular lymphomas (approximately 22%), and the mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphomas (approximately 8%).3,4

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