sodium-ethylxanthate and Lymphoma--Non-Hodgkin

Although the sex of an individual confers one of the greatest of the known risks for contracting leukaemia and lymphomas, very little attention is paid to these risks. It is the purpose of this paper to stimulate further research in this area. The sex rate ratios are presented for the commoner haematological malignancies. The male excess in the lymphoid cancers is most marked in the youngest age group in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and Hodgkin's disease, while acute lymphoblastic leukaemia shows equal sex ratios in the childhood peak. Both chronic lymphocytic leukaemia and lymphocytic lymphoma display an unusual pattern, hitherto undescribed, with a large male excess specific to the 40s and 60s age groups. The myeloid sex ratios are all characterized by slight female excess in early adulthood followed by marked male excess. The reasons for these patterns are discussed.

Topics: Acute Disease; Adolescent; Adult; Age Distribution; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Child; Child, Preschool; Female; Hematologic Neoplasms; Hodgkin Disease; Humans; Incidence; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Chronic, B-Cell; Leukemia, Myeloid; Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin; Male; Middle Aged; Multiple Myeloma; Myelodysplastic Syndromes; Myeloproliferative Disorders; Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma; Risk; Sex; Sex Distribution

Of 283 cases of lymphocytic disease, 81% fell within three distinct categories: lymphocytic and lymphoblastic lymphosarcoma and lymphocytic leukemia. The remaining 19% showed transitions from more mature to less mature cell types or from local to general anatomic distribution. The clinical course was related to the cell type and the extent of disease rather than to the presence of blood stream invasion. Survival of patients with lymphocytic leukemia and of those with lymphocytic lymphosarcoma was the same, while that of patients with lymphoblastic lymphosarcoma was much shorter. Survival curves are simple exponentials and do not suggest two populations, one with disease less malignant than the other.

Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aging; Blood Cell Count; Blood Platelets; Blood Sedimentation; Bone Marrow Cells; Child; Ethnology; Female; Hemoglobins; Humans; Leukemia, Lymphoid; Leukocytes; Lymphocytes; Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin; Male; Middle Aged; Prognosis; Sex

Topics: Adenocarcinoma; Asian People; Black People; Carcinoma; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell; Carcinoma, Transitional Cell; Chordoma; Ethnology; Geriatrics; Lymphatic Metastasis; Lymphoma, Large B-Cell, Diffuse; Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin; Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms; Neoplasms; New York; Rhabdomyosarcoma; Sarcoma; Sex; Surgical Procedures, Operative