Non-Hodgkin's lymphomas in Turkey.

Between 1982 and 1986, 185 adult patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) were studied at Cukurova University Hospital (CUH), Adana, Turkey. This constituted 13% of all malignant neoplasms diagnosed in the oncology clinic. The mean age for men was 45.5 years and 41 years for women. Fifty-four percent of the cases were nodal lymphoma and the remaining 46% were extranodal lymphoma. Sixty-six percent of the extranodal lymphoma cases were gastrointestinal lymphoma. The stomach was the most common localization (43%), followed by intestinal involvement (30%) and abdominal mass (27%). The mean age of the patients with gastric lymphoma was 49 years, and 36 years for patients with abdominal mass. The following conclusions were reached: (1) the relative frequency rate of NHL in South Turkey is higher than Turkey averages, but similar to other Middle East countries; (2) extranodal lymphomas account for more than 40% of all lymphomas; (3) gastric lymphoma is more prevalent than intestinal lymphoma in our region; and (4) compared with western gastric lymphomas, our patients were 10 years younger and had a higher incidence of small lymphocytic and immunoblastic lymphoma.