The Nebraska Lymphoma Study Group (NLSG), established in 1982 by James Armitage, MD and Dennis Weisenburger, MD, is a unique collaborative effort between community oncologists and pathologists, and their counterparts at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Through this collaborative effort, patients with Hodgkin’s disease, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and other neoplastic hematologic disorders are treated according to standard, state-of-the-art therapies in the community setting, while being afforded the expertise and high technology of the University setting. The majority of the patients enrolled in the study group are previously untreated, and are the most likely to benefit from their therapy. In many cases, fresh tissues are shipped to the Department of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology at the University of Nebraska Medical Center for detailed histopathologic, immunologic, and molecular characterization. Cytogenetic studies are also performed.
Since 1982, NLSG has reviewed 68,933 biopsies, procured 8,371 frozen tissue, and collected 6,919 clinical data on de novo patients treated by the NLSG. Dr. Armitage and Julie M. Vose, MD, direct the NLSG, while Timothy Greiner, MD, leads the Hematopathology Section, which reviews the cases submitted. The important work of the NLSG has led to national and international recognition of the University of Nebraska Medical Center, as well as its collaborators in the state of Nebraska.