Diagnosis of lymphoma in the new millennium

Finally, it may be that if there were a complete understanding of lymphoid neoplasms, with tools and methods to dissect precisely each patient's cell of origin, genetic abnormality and level of differentiation or proliferation, every patient's lymphoma might be different, one from the other. One wonders whether such complete knowledge would be helpful. Each patient, given enough time and advanced technology, might prove to have a unique defect. Currently flow cytometry allows us to characterize patients into a reasonable number of subgroups for therapy. DNA and molecular biology techniques in the future may allow for gene replacement, gene piece insertion, antisense DNA inhibition and other exciting and as yet undreamed of miracles.