Timeline of lymphoma

This is a timeline of lymphoma, describing especially major discoveries and advances in treatment against the disease.

Big picture

Year/period	Key developments
19th Century	The presence of lymphoma in western medical literature is born after the works of people like Thomas Hodgkin and Samuel Wilks. Hodgkin's lymphoma is the first lymphoma to be described.
1900–1950s	It is found that radiation therapy can cure some patients with Hodgkin lymphoma, one of two major classes of lymphomas. When it is discovered that radiating larger parts of the body improves cure rates, physicians begin increasing the size of the radiation fields. Radiotherapy starts to prove successful as a treatment against Hodgkin's lymphoma in the 1940s. However, long-term effects of radiation to the chest (including cardiovascular disease and second cancers) are later recognized, and efforts start to be taken to reduce radiation exposure to healthy tissue.
1960s–1970s	Very effective treatments for Hodgkin's lymphoma are developed in this period. Chemotherapeutic agents are combined into regimens capable of eradicating and even disseminating the disease. Combination of chemotherapy and high-energy radiation therapy are introduced.
1990s–present	Modern era of treatment for Hodgkin's lymphoma, focusing on reducing both toxicity and duration of chemotherapy. Lymphomas developed in 566,000 people in 2012 and caused 305,000 deaths worldwide. They comprise the seventh-most common form of cancers making up the 3–4% of them.

Full timeline

Year/period	Type of event	Event	Location
1666	Development	Italian biologist Marcello Malpighi publishes De viscerum structuru exercitatio anatomica, where he describes what later will be known as Hodgkin's lymphoma.
1832	Development	British physician Thomas Hodgkin presents a paper describing seven patients with painless enlargement of the lymph nodes, and including autopsy findings and illustrations from one of the patients.	London, United Kingdom
1856	Book	British physician Samuel Wilks publishes Cases of lardaceous diseases and some allied affections with remarks, describing similar cases to those presented by Thomas Hodgkin. Wilks honors Hodgkin by eponymously referring to this disease as Hodgkin's lymphoma.
1871	Development	Billroth reports the first case of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma
1872–1878	Development	Microscopic descriptions of Hodgkin's lymphoma are first described.
1878	Development	W. S. Greenfield first publishes drawings of the pathognomonic giant cells, later called Reed–Sternberg cells.
1894	Development	Osler first mentions use of chemotherapy for lymphoma in his work Textbook of Medicine.
1898	Development	Austrian pathologist Carl Sternberg first describes in detail giant cells (Reed–Sternberg cells).	Germany
1902	Development	American physician Dorothy Reed Mendenhall independently describes Reed-Sternberg cells.	United States
1910	Discovery	Albert Cook, a missionary doctor in Africa, reports a child with a large jaw tumor, in what becomes the first description of Burkitt lymphoma.	Uganda
1925	Discovery	Follicular lymphoma is first described.
1932	Development	Chevalier and Bernard describe the use of radiation therapy to treat Hodgkin's disease.
1939	Development	E. Epstein reports better survival prognosis for women against Hodgkin's lymphoma in his book [...] as factor in the prognosis of Hodgkins disease.
1942	Development	Gall and Mallory propose the first morphological classification for lymphoma.
1944	Discovery	Lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma, also known as Waldenström's macroglobulinemia, is first described by Swedish oncologist Jan G. Waldenström.	Sweden
1949	Treatment	First chemotherapy [...] (nitrogen mustard) is approved by the Food and [...] Administration (FDA) for the treatment of Hodgkin's lymphoma.	United States
1949–1956	Discovery	After shielding a mouse's spleen, researchers discover that the body recruits stem cells, which are found in the spleen and bone marrow, to protect and heal itself from radiation damage.
1956	Development	American chemist Henry Rapoport proposes the first classification of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma based on cellular morphology.
1963	Treatment	First program for combination of chemotherapy agents against Hodgkin's lymphoma is designed, combining cyclophosphamide, vincristine, methotrexate, and prednisone (MOMP).
1965	Organization	The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) is founded as an intergovernmental agency forming part of the World Health Organization of the United Nations. Its role is to conduct and coordinate research into the causes of cancer.	Lyon, France
1966	Discovery	It is discovered that Hodgkin's lymphoma spreads through the body in an orderly and somewhat predictable way. This implies that prognosis and appropriate treatment can be determined based on the extent of the spread.
1967	Treatment	New chemotherapy regimen called MOPP (mechlorethamine, vincristine, procarbazine and prednisone) is found to cure more than 50 percent of patients with advanced Hodgkin's lymphoma.
1974	Treatment	Antibiotic doxorubicin is approved by FDA as part of combination chemotherapy against Hodgkin's lymphoma.	United States
1975	Discovery	Researchers first identify lymphoblastic lymphoma.
1975	Treatment	New chemotherapy combination of doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine (known as ABVD) is found to be more effective than the older MOPP combination regimen, and causes fewer side effects.
1977	Discovery	Adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma, a distinct subtype of lymphoma, is reported.	Japan
1983	Discovery	MALT lymphoma is first described by Isaacson and Wright.
1985	Treatment	Bone marrow transplantation is successfully used to cure lymphoma.
1987	Discovery	Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNA is first reported in Reed–Sternberg cells of a proportion of Hodgkin's lymphoma cases.
1990	Organization	The International Lymphoma Study Group is founded.
1991	Organization	Lymphoma Research Foundation of America (LRFA) is founded.	Los Angeles, United States
1992	Discovery	Mantle cell lymphoma subtype is first recognized.
1992	Treatment	German Hodgkin Study Group (GHSG) develops the BEACOPP regimen for patients with advanced Hodgkin's lymphoma, involving the use of chemotherapy agents bleomycin, etoposide, adriamycin, cyclophosphamide, oncovin, procarbazine and prednisone.	Germany
1994	Development	The Revised European-American Classification of Lymphoid Neoplasms (REAL) is proposed as a new classification for non Hodgkin's lymphoma, taking into account immunologic, genetic and clinical characteristics of the disorders in addition to histopathologic characteristics of the tumor cells.
1994	Organization	Cure for Lymphoma Foundation is established.	New York City, United States
1994	Discovery	Primary effusion lymphoma type is first recognized.
1995	Discovery	Researchers discover that lymphocyte transfusion from a biologically matched, healthy donor to a patient with chronic myelogenous leukemia can induce the disease into remission.
1997	Treatment	FDA approves rituximab, the first molecularly targeted cancer [...], to treat patients with B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma that no longer responds to other treatments	United States
1997	Discovery	ALK+ large B-cell lymphoma is first reported.
2001	Discovery	Scientists discover that diffuse large B-cell lymphoma – the most common form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma – is actually two distinct diseases, each with its own genetic profile.
2002	Treatment	FDA approves ibritumomab tiuxetan, which combines radioactive material with a specific protein. The radioactive material kills the cells with which it comes in contact, while sparing the healthy surrounding tissue. It is the first radioimmunotherapy introduced to treat lymphoma.	United States
2008	Discovery	WHO classification recognizes primary mediastinal (thymic) large B cell lymphoma type.
2013–2014	[...]	Ibrutinib is approved by the FDA for patients with mantle cell lymphoma or chronic lymphocytic leukemia that progresses despite other standard therapies.	United States

AdriamycinAdult T-cell leukemia/lymphomaAfricaALK+ large B-cell lymphomaAutopsyBleomycinBone marrowBurkitt lymphomaCarl SternbergChemotherapyChronic lymphocytic leukemiaChronic myelogenous leukemiaCure for Lymphoma FoundationCyclophosphamideDacarbazineDNADorothy Reed MendenhallDoxorubicinEponymEpstein-Barr virusEtoposideFDAFollicular lymphomaFood and Drug AdministrationFranceGermanyHenry RapoportHistopathologicHodgkin's lymphomaIbritumomab tiuxetanIbrutinibInternational Agency for Research on CancerInternational Lymphoma Study GroupJan G. WaldenströmJapanLondonLos AngelesLymph nodeLymphoblastic lymphomaLymphocyteLymphomaLymphoma Research Foundation of AmericaLymphoplasmacytic lymphomaLyonMALT lymphomaMantle cell lymphomaMarcello MalpighiMechlorethamineMethotrexateNew York CityNitrogen mustardNon Hodgkin's lymphomaNon-Hodgkin's lymphomaOncovinPathognomonicPrednisonePrimary effusion lymphomaPrimary mediastinal (thymic) large B cell lymphomaProcarbazinePrognosisProteinRadiation damageRadiation therapyRadioimmunotherapyRadiotherapyReed–Sternberg cellRituximabSamuel WilksSpleenStem cellSwedenThomas HodgkinTimeline of brain cancerTimeline of leukemiaTimeline of lung cancerTimeline of melanomaUgandaUnited KingdomUnited NationsUnited StatesVinblastineVincristineWorld Health Organization

External links (19)

apps.who.int/...

http://cancerprogress.net/timeline/lymphoma

http://jco.ascopubs.org/content/21/18/3388.full

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/...

http://www-dep.iarc.fr/

www.cancer.net/...

www.knowcancer.com/...

www.lymphomainfo.net/...

www.nejm.org/...

www.news-medical.net/...

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