To assess the prognostic significance of histological classification, grade and stage with regard to overall survival in patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL).Retrospective analysis.University Hospital St Radboud, Nijmegen.All consecutive 346 patients with NHL diagnosed in the period January 1978-December 1990 were included in this one-centre study. Recorded data included histological type according to the Kiel classification, histological grading according to the International Working Formulation (IWF), Ann Arbor stage, age, sex, tumour mass, number of extranodal sites, serum LDH and ESR. Grading according to the IWF was assessed retrospectively for those patients whose primary disease had been diagnosed before 1982. The observation period ended September 1st, 1991. Overall survival was calculated according to Kaplan-Meier. The significance of the prognostic parameters was studied using both univariate and multivariate stepwise regression analysis.There were 209 men and 137 women with a median age of 56 years (range 15-85). No initial treatment was given to 8% of the patients. After a median follow-up of 52 months, 179 patients (52%) had died; the calculated median survival time was 49 months. Patients with low-grade NHL had a significantly better short-term prognosis than the remaining patients. Related to clinical stage, only patients with stage I disease had distinctly longer survival times than those with more advanced disease. Multivariate analysis revealed serum LDH, age, stage and histological classification to be the most important independent prognostic variables.Even in multivariate analysis, histological classification and Ann Arbor stage have prognostic significance with regard to overall survival in patients with NHL. However, serum LDH levels proved to be the most important prognostic parameter.
