Abstract
Tissues from 22 children with non‐Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) were studied pathologically and immu‐nologically. Most children were noted to have marked (B‐ or T‐cell) neoplasms and the Lukes‐Collins classification was predictive of immunologic phenotype in cases where markers were present. Our series and a review of the literature demonstrates that most abdominal NHL are B‐cell in origin and are often small noncleaved follicular center cell lymphoma (Burkitt type). Most mediastinal primary lesions are T‐cell in origin and of convoluted cell morphology. A few neoplasms (often peripheral nodal) lack the characteristic surface immunoglobulin or erythrocyte resetting properties of B‐ or T‐cell lesions, respectively. Frequently marrow and central nervous system involvement are observed in T‐cell lymphomas and are not infrequent in B cell neoplasms. Shared immunologic and clinical features between the B‐ or T‐cell lymphomas and their teukemic counterparts support the concept that they often differ only in the stage of disease progression.