Klin Onkol 2001; 14(2): 65-69.
Summary:
Backgrounds: Primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma (PMLBL) was recently identified as aseparate clinical entity.
Design and Subjects: By a review of the patients operated in Vyšné Hágy during last 7.5 years, six PMLBL cases were selected to correlate their clinical and morphological data.
Methods and Results: 4 female and 2 male patients were at age 17-44 years. All the cases showed morphologically diffuse growth patterns associated with different fibrosis degree. Tumor cells were represented by medium-sized up to large blasts being immunohistochemically of B-cell type. At the presentation, the features of a locally limited tumor with lung (n=5), chest wall (n=2) and pleura infiltration (n=2) dominated. The extrathoracic manifestation was not present even during recidives in 2 patients. Four patients were in stage I.-II., two in stage IV. Neither infiltration of the bone marrow, liver, spleen, peripheral lymph nodes, nor leukemisation was observed in any of the cases. Two patients died, in three cases a complete and in one an incomplete remission was reached.
Conclusions: Although REAL/WHO classification includes PMLBL together with morphologically similar primary nodal lymphomas into the common category of diffuse large B-cell lymphomas, in contrast to nodal cases PMLBL shows different biological manifestation and spread patterns.
