Pediatric lymphomas are the third most common group of malignancies in
children and adolescents. Unlike lymphomas in adults, pediatric lymph
omas are diffuse, aggressive neoplasms with a propensity for widesprea
d dissemination. Intensification of conventional treatment approaches
along with improvements in supportive care have resulted in dramatic i
mprovement in event-free survival rates of close to 90% in patients wi
th B-cell lymphomas and only slightly lower in patients with T-cell ly
mphomas. Lymphoid neoplasms arise because of genetic changes that resu
lt in altered growth and differential patterns of lymphoid cells. The
characterization of these molecular abnormalities and an understanding
of their consequences has led to new approaches to diagnosis and the
detection of minimal residual disease and also provides the basis for
the future development of novel treatment approaches targeted specific
ally to the neoplastic cells.