Cutaneous Lymphomas Pseudolymphomas and Related Disorders

The term \lymphoma\ was originally used by Billroth in 1871 [55] and by Virehow [763] some years before that for the designation of swelling of lymph nodes that was not due to \eareinoma sareoma ehondroma myxoma ete. \ In his paper Billroth reeounted sueeessful treatment with arsenie (\ Fowlers solution\) of multiple \lymphomas\ that had developed in a 40-year-old woman during a 10-month period. From this report it is not entirely clear if the multiple\ lymphomas\ deseribed were infeetious or if they were eonsis- te nt with what we now mean by \malignant lymphoma. \ Today the term \malignant lymphoma\ is generally used eolleetively for malignant lymphoproliferative neoplasms that tend to arise in lymph nodes and also eneompasses Hodgkins disease and non-Hodgkins lymphomas. The adjeetive \malignant\ seems somewhat superfluous sinee in addition to Bill- roths original eonnotation the sense of malignaney is nowadays read into the word \lymphoma. \ To be sure true i. e. malignant lymphomas have to be differentiated from \pseudolymphomas\ or to put it more exaetly \pseudomalignant lymphomas. \ In this book \lymphoma\ and \malignant lymphoma\ are used interehan- geably for malignant neoplastie lymphoproliferative disorders and \pseudo- lymphoma\ is used for benign lymphomatous proeesses. Our editorial eonsultant Dr. M. Leider disagrees with all of this. In his Dictionary of Dermatological Words Terms and Phrases [421] and other works he maintains that there is no etymologieal basis for words bearing the eontrived suffix\ -oma\ or the true Greek suffix\ -ma\ to denote malignaney.