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PRIOR to 1927 the condition variously known as "giant lymph follicle hyperplasia of the lymph nodes and spleen," "giant follicular lymphadenopathy," "follicular lymphoblastoma," "Brill-Symmers disease" or "giant follicular lymphoma" was considered a benign disease. In that year Baehr and Rosenthal suggested that the condition be called "malignant lymph follicle hyperplasia." In 1931 Baehr, Rosenthal and Klemperer stated that the disease was a form of lymphosarcoma. They classified it as lymphoblastoma, characterized chiefly by (a) enlargement of lymph follicles and the spleen due to hyperplasia; (b) absence of changes in the cytologic elements of the blood; (c) occasional development of pleural and peritoneal effusions; (d) absence of involvement of the tonsils and lymphoid tissue of the gastrointestinal tract; (e) occasional unilateral exophthalmos resulting from lymphatic infiltration of the lacrimal gland, and (f) multicentric origin throughout the body in the lymph follicles, whereas lymphosarcoma arises monocentrically and spreads by lymphatic or hematogenous