Introduction to the Fifth Edition of the World Health Organization Classification of Tumors of Hematopoietic and Lymphoid Tissues

Kikkeri N Naresh; L Jeffrey Medeiros; WHO Fifth Edition Classification Project

doi:10.1016/j.modpat.2023.100330

Introduction to the Fifth Edition of the World Health Organization Classification of Tumors of Hematopoietic and Lymphoid Tissues

Mod Pathol. 2023 Dec;36(12):100330. doi: 10.1016/j.modpat.2023.100330. Epub 2023 Sep 15.

Authors

Kikkeri N Naresh¹, L Jeffrey Medeiros²; WHO Fifth Edition Classification Project

Affiliations

¹ Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center and Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.
² Department of Hematopathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas. Electronic address: ljmedeiros@mdanderson.org.

PMID: 37716508
DOI: 10.1016/j.modpat.2023.100330

Abstract

The World Health Organization (WHO) Classification of Tumors of Hematopoietic and Lymphoid Tissues has been the internationally accepted standard for over 20 years. The fifth edition of the WHO Classification (WHO-HEM5) is a multidisciplinary effort by pathologists, clinicians and other specialists that builds upon the revised fourth edition published in 2017. Entities in WHO-HEM5 are organized hierarchically. There are several changes in WHO-HEM5 from the previous edition, including addition of new entities, deletion of some entities and recognition or revision of some subtypes reflecting scientific developments and clinical advances during the past few years. Essential and desirable criteria for each entity are included. Here we introduce WHO-HEM5. Four reviews will follow that emphasize important aspects of the classification.

Keywords: WHO classification; fifth edition; lymphoid; myeloid; neoplasms.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Hematologic Neoplasms* / pathology
Humans
Lymphoid Tissue / pathology
Lymphoma* / genetics
Lymphoma* / pathology
Neoplasms* / genetics
World Health Organization