Types of lymphoma

There are 2 main types of lymphoma:  

• Non-Hodgkin lymphoma is the most common type of lymphoma, accounting for about 90% of cases^[3].
• Hodgkin lymphoma (also called Hodgkin’s disease) is a rare type of cancer. 

These 2 types are classified by how the lymphoma cells look under a microscope. Each of these lymphomas have different sub-types. 

Non-Hodgkin lymphoma

There are many different types of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. These are classified into 2 groups based on type of lymphocyte affected and how fast the cancer is growing: 

• B-cell lymphomas, which start in B lymphocytes (white blood cells that produce antibodies). These are the most common type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in Australia, accounting for around 85%^[4] cases.
• T-cell lymphomas, which start in cells called T lymphocytes (white blood cells that attack foreign cells as part of the immune system). These account for around 15%^[5] of non-Hodgkin lymphoma cases in Australia. 

Types of B-cell lymphoma include: 

• diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (the most common type of B-cell lymphoma)
• follicular lymphoma
• small lymphocytic lymphoma (also called chronic lymphocytic leukaemia)
• mantle cell lymphoma
• marginal zone B-cell lymphoma
• Burkitt lymphoma
• lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma (Waldenstrom macroglobulinaemia)
• hairy cell leukaemia (this is sometimes considered to be a type of lymphoma)
• primary central nervous system lymphoma. 

Types of T-cell lymphoma include: 

• precursor T-lymphoblastic lymphoma (sometimes called precursor T-lymphoblastic leukaemia)
• peripheral T-cell lymphoma
• cutaneous (skin) T-cell lymphoma (skin lymphoma can also be a type of B-cell lymphoma). 

Hodgkin lymphoma

Hodgkin lymphoma is divided into 2 groups: 

• classical Hodgkin lymphoma – this makes up about 95% of all cases of Hodgkin lymphoma in developed countries
• nodular lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin lymphoma. 

Types of classical Hodgkin lymphoma include:: 

• nodular sclerosis (the most common type of classical Hodgkin lymphoma)
• mixed cellularity
• lymphocyte-depleted Hodgkin lymphoma
• lymphocyte-rich Hodgkin lymphoma. 

Both Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma occur more often in adults, but these cancers can affect children and teenagers. 

In children, Hodgkin lymphoma is more likely to affect older children and teenagers, while non-Hodgkin lymphoma tends to occur more often in younger children^[6]. The most common types of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in children are: 

• lymphoblastic lymphoma
• Burkitt lymphoma
• diffuse large B-cell lymphoma
• anaplastic large cell lymphoma.