The 2 main types of lymphoma are: Hodgkin lymphoma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Hodgkin lymphoma is divided into:

• classical Hodgkin lymphoma – this makes up about 95% of all cases of Hodgkin lymphoma in developed countries and has 4 subtypes
  • nodular sclerosis (the most common type)
  • mixed cellularity
  • lymphocyte-depleted Hodgkin lymphoma
  • lymphocyte-rich Hodgkin lymphoma
• nodular lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin lymphoma.

Non-Hodgkin lymphomas are divided into numerous types, based on how the lymphoma cells look under a microscope and other properties of the cells. They include:

• B-cell lymphomas, which start in B lymphocytes (white blood cells that produce antibodies); these lymphomas are more common in Australia and include
  • diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (the most common type)
  • follicular lymphoma
  • chronic lymphocytic leukaemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma
  • mantle cell lymphoma
  • marginal zone B-cell lymphomas
  • Burkitt lymphomas
  • lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma (Waldenstrom macroglobulinaemia)
  • hairy cell leukaemia (this is sometimes considered to be a type of lymphoma)
  • primary central nervous system lymphoma
• T-cell lymphomas, which start in T lymphocytes (white blood cells that play various roles in attacking foreign cells as part of the immune system); these lymphomas include
  • precursor T-lymphoblastic lymphoma/leukaemia
  • peripheral T-cell lymphomas – these include most types of skin (cutaneous) lymphomas, although some skin lymphomas are B-cell lymphomas.

Some of these types of lymphomas are divided into further subtypes.

In children, the most common types of non-Hodgkin lymphoma are:

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