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. 2015 May 4;33(18):2112–2118. doi: 10.1200/JCO.2014.59.7203

Table 3.

Additional Staging Information

Additional Staging Information
BM involvement
    Stage IV disease, resulting from BM involvement, is currently defined by morphologic evidence of ≥ 5% blasts or lymphoma cells by BM aspiration; this applies to any histologic subtype and will be maintained in IPNHLSS
    For each stage, type and degree of BM involvement (by BM aspiration) should be specified, using abbreviations below to identify involvement:
        BMm: BM positivity by morphology (specify % lymphoma cells)
        BMi: BM positivity by immunophenotypic methods (immunohistochemical or flow-cytometric analysis; specify % lymphoma cells)
        BMc: BM positivity by cytogenetic or FISH analysis (specify % lymphoma cells)
        BMmol: BM positivity by molecular techniques (PCR based; specify level of involvement)
    Same approach should be used for PB involvement (ie, PBm, PBi, PBc, PBmol)
    Definition of BM involvement should be obtained from analysis of bilateral BM aspirates and BM biopsy
CNS involvement
    CNS is considered involved in case of:
        Any CNS tumor mass (identified by imaging techniques [ie, CT, MRI])
        Cranial nerve palsy that cannot be explained by extradural lesions
        Blasts morphologically identified in CSF
    Condition that defines CNS positivity should be specified: CNS positive/mass, CNS positive/palsy, CNS positive/blasts
    CSF status: CSF positivity is based on morphologic evidence of lymphoma cells
    CSF should be considered positive when any No. of blasts is detected
    CSF unknown (not performed, technical difficulties)
    Similarly to BM, type of CSF involvement should be described whenever possible
        CSFm: CSF positivity by morphology (specify No. of blasts/μL)
        CSFi: CSF positivity by immunophenotype methods (immunohistochemical or flow cytometric analysis; specify % lymphoma cells)
        CSFc: CSF positive by cytogenetic or FISH analysis (specify % lymphoma cells)
        CSFmol: CSF positivity by molecular techniques (PCR based; specify level of involvement)

NOTE. Until sufficient data are available, PET should be used with caution for staging, and PET results should be compared and discussed in light of other more consolidated imaging approaches.

Abbreviations: BM, bone marrow; CT, computed tomography; FISH, fluorescent in situ hybridization; IPNHLSS, International Pediatric Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma Staging System; MRI, magnetic resonance imaging; PB, peripheral blood; PBc, PB positivity by cytogenetic or FISH analysis; PBi, PB positivity by immunophenotype methods; PBm, PB positivity by morphology; PBmol, PB positivity by molecular techniques; PCR, polymerase chain reaction; PET, positron emission tomography.