PURPOSE: Peripheral lymphadenopathy is frequently encountered in children, but it is difficult to determine the etiology. Our aim in this study was to evaluate the risk of malignancy in childhood peripheral lymphadenopathy, determine the factors accompanying a malignant etiology and find out which additional findings strongly indicate malignancy. METHODS: Patients from whom a peripheral lymphadenopathy biopsy had been obtained between January 2005 and December 2007 were retrospectively reviewed. The patients were divided into two groups as malignant and benign. RESULTS: There were 32 patients in the malignant group and 52 in the benign group. The mean age was higher (P