Highlights of Abstracts on Lymphoma in the Annual Conference ISHBT Kochi 2018

Lymphomas constitute a vast and heterogenous group of predominantly solid haematopoietic malignancies. Immunohistochemistry has always played a pivotal role in the diagnosis of lymphomas. Many new prognostic immunohistochemical markers have also come up and are being increasingly employed. The unraveling of molecular pathways in the study of lymphomas has opened the possibility of various new prognostic markers. Staging of lymphomas relies a lot on imaging. With the increasing use of positron emission tomography/computerized tomography scan for staging, many studies have shown that it has a high sensitivity for detecting bone marrow (BM) involvement especially in Hodgkin lymphoma thereby obviating the need for BM biopsy. Treatment option though heavily chemotherapy-regimen based, relapsed/refractory lymphomas pose a therapeutic challenge despite the advent of salvage chemotherapy, monoclonal antibodies and stem cell transplantation. Response rates to therapy also show a great deal of variation. The 59th Annual Conference of ISHBT “Haematocon” 2018 held at Kochi, Kerala had 27 abstracts which included 17 case series and 10 case reports presented under the lymphoma track. This brief review summarizes the salient findings as a reflection of on-going studies on lymphoma from various parts of our country.