Clinical observations of 62 patients with head and neck malignant lymphomas who were treated between 1966 and 1975 at the Otorhinolaryngological Clinic of Kanazawa University Hospital are reported.
There were 49 cases (79%) with reticulum cell sarcoma, 8 cases (13%) of lymphosarcoma and 3 cases (4.8%) of Hodgkin's disease in the series of 62 patients.
Malignant lymphomas were observed most frequently in the tonsil (33.8%), and then, in the nose and paranasal sinus (27.4%). Thirty-five of 62 malignant lymphoma cases were accompanied by regional lymphnode swelling at the first visit. The lymphnode swelling was more frequent in the tumor of the tonsil, while less in the tumor of the nose and paranasal sinus. Many cases with malignant lymphoma in the nose and paranasal sinus were of the type of progressive necrotic rhinitis.
Staging classification of the cases of this series showed 27 cases (43.5%) as Stage I, 31 cases (50%) as Stage II, 4 cases (6.4%) as Stage III and none of Stage IV.
The patients in the first half of this decade were treated chiefly with irradiation therapy, and those in the latter half were treated chiefly with Vincristine (VCR) together with irradiation therapy or with some other antitumor agents.
Comparison of these two groups proved that the patients treated chiefly with VCR showed longer survival than those treated without VCR and with irradiation therapy chiefly.
It was proposed that in the treatment of malignant lymphoma, chemotherapy (chiefly with VCR) should be applied even at the early stage of the disease, combined with irradiation therapy if necessary, for the malignant lymphoma would be scattered to various sites of the hosts in the very early stage of the disease.
