Lymphosarcoma: A Statistical Study and Evaluation of Treatment1

Patients suffering with lymphosarcoma are found as a small minority in the medical wards of every general hospital. Lymphosarcoma is highly malignant and, while the individual tumor may be affected by radiation, the course of the disease is usually progressive. Lymphosarcoma may arise in any organ which has a basic reticulum structure, i.e. lymphoid tissue, spleen, liver, or bone marrow. Its onset is insidious. A latent period may exist before the primary, more localized tumor is transformed into a generalized condition. The earliest spread is by way of the lymphatics, from one group of lymph nodes to another, though the exact mechanism of this extension is not known. Later, metastatic growths appear in distant organs. Kundrat (1) is widely quoted as having been the first to describe lymphosarcoma. He wrote of it as arising most frequently in groups of nodes rather than in a single node. It may also arise in lymph aggregates in the intestine, tonsil, or pharynx. By analyzing its mode of spread, he differe...