ABSTRACT
Definition and purpose of staging 809 Staging systems 809 The current standard staging system 809 Problems with the Ann Arbor classification 810 Proposed newer staging systems 811 Hodgkin lymphoma 811 Non-Hodgkin lymphoma 812 Follicular lymphoma 812 Extranodal lymphoma 813 T cell lymphoma 813
Cutaneous T cell lymphomas 813 Pediatric lymphoma 814 Staging investigations 814 Staging procedures required for all patients 814 Procedures indicated in patients with specific symptoms 816 Procedures indicated for patients with specific histologic 817
subtypes and/or disease localizations Key points 819 References 819
Staging is the process of defining the extent and aggressiveness of a malignant disease within a given patient. A valid and universally accepted staging classification for the lymphomas is of paramount importance for the following reasons:
● The stage of the disease should provide important prognostic information, aiding the clinician in predicting, with some accuracy, the outcome of the disease for a patient or a group of patients, thus defining risk groups.
