CLINICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF NON-HODGKINS-LYMPHOMA AS A 2ND PRIMARY TUMOR - A POPULATION-BASED SURVEY

Data from 29,845 patients with lymphomas, 981 of whom had lymphoma as a second primary tumor, registered in the Surveillance Epidemiology an d End Results (SEER) program in the U.S.A. between 1973 and 1986 were analyzed. The characteristics of the 274 patients with lymphoma as a s econd tumor who had received chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy for thei r primary tumor (SEP PT) were compared with 675 patients with second p rimary lymphomas who had no prior treatment (SEP NT) and with patients with single lymphomas (SIP). Patients with SEP PT disease had a signi ficantly higher percentage of intermediate and high-grade tumors (80%) compared to those with SEP NT or SIP tumors (73% and 72%, respectivel y). The survival of all patients with SIP tumors did not differ from t hose with SEP tumors, but the median survival of those with SEP PT dis ease was shorter than for SEP NT disease. This was most probably due t o the high percentage of intermediate and high-grade lymphomas in the SEP PT group. This was statistically significant in the group treated by combined chemotherapy and radiotherapy but not in those treated by a single modality alone. These findings relating to a worse prognosis in patients with SEP PT lymphoma are in line with our previous observa tions of a poor survival in patients with other multiple primary tumor s.