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T-lymphoblastic leukemia/lymphoma , previously labeled precursor T-lymphoblastic leukemia/lymphoma is a form of lymphoid leukemia and lymphoma in which too many T-cell lymphoblasts are found in the blood, bone marrow, and tissues, particularly mediastinal lymph nodes. Labeling as leukemia or lymphoma depends on which feature is more pronounced in a given situation, but has no biological or treatment implication.
It is uncommon in adults, but represents 15% of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia and 90% of lymphoblastic lymphoma.
The 2008 terminology dropped "precursor" to avoid linguistic redundancy because the lymphoblast is an immature precursor cell by definition.
This article incorporates public domain material from the U.S. National Cancer Institute document: "Dictionary of Cancer Terms".