ExplanationD. The majority of B-cell non–Hodgkin lymphomas in children and adolescents are aggressive lymphomas, predominantly Burkitt’s
lymphomas and diffuse large B-cell lymphomas (DLBCL). Follicular lymphomas (FL), although frequent in adults, are rare in children and account for not more than 2% of non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas in this age group. Moreover, pediatric follicular lymphoma is a disease that differs from its adult counterpart both genetically and clinically. The genetic hallmark of adult follicular lymphoma, t(14;18)(q32;q21), is usually not detectable in the pediatric cases. Pediatric follicular lymphoma usually involving the head and neck region but also the testis with localized disease. The lymphomas are usually BCL-2 negative and do not carry the t(14;18) translocation. The outcome of pediatric FL is very good and, in contrast to adult FL, the clinical course is not dominated by frequent relapses, if the pediatric FL are treated according to NHL-BFM protocols
