Actinomycosis can mask malignant diseases. This paper reports a case of colonic diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), which was misdiagnosed as abdominal actinomycosis. A 76-year-old woman presented with right flank pain and weight loss. Abdominal CT and colonoscopy revealed a huge ascending colon mass. Despite the initial impression of a malignancy, a colonoscopic biopsy revealed no malignant cells, but sulfur granules and a filamentous organism suggesting actinomycosis. Intravenous penicillin G was administered under the impression of abdominal actinomycosis but her condition deteriorated rapidly. Follow up CT showed markedly increased colon mass and new multiple nodular lesions around the ascending colon. Sono-guided percutaneous biopsy of the nodular lesion was performed. The pathological result was DLBCL. The patient was scheduled to undergo chemotherapy but the patient expired due to cancer progression. The diagnosis of gastrointestinal infiltrating tumors is often difficult because a superficial biopsy usually does not provide a confirmative diagnosis. This case highlights the difficulty in making a correct diagnosis of lymphoma due to the concomitant actinomycosis. Malignant conditions must be considered in cases of actinomycosis with no response to antimicrobial therapy.
Actinomycosis ; Aged ; B-Lymphocytes ; Biopsy ; Colon ; Colon, Ascending ; Colonic Neoplasms ; Colonoscopy ; Diagnosis ; Drug Therapy ; Female ; Flank Pain ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Lymphoma ; Lymphoma, B-Cell ; Lymphoma, Large B-Cell, Diffuse ; Masks ; Penicillin G ; Sulfur ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Weight Loss

Primary cutaneous anaplastic large cell lymphoma (C-ALCL) is rare among skin malignancies. C-ALCL usually manifests as reddish or violet nodules. Surgical excision or radiation therapy is generally considered as first-line therapy, but a clinically aggressive disease may require multiagent chemotherapy. Establishing a proper diagnosis of C-ALCL is challenging but should be made to avoid inappropriate treatment and its consequences. The authors report a case of medically resolved C-ALCL in an 81-year-old man presented with well-defined nodular lesions on the forehead.
Aged, 80 and over ; Diagnosis ; Drug Therapy ; Forehead ; Humans ; Lymphoma, Large-Cell, Anaplastic ; Lymphoma, Primary Cutaneous Anaplastic Large Cell ; Lymphoma, T-Cell ; Skin ; Viola

Actinomycosis can mask malignant diseases. This paper reports a case of colonic diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), which was misdiagnosed as abdominal actinomycosis. A 76-year-old woman presented with right flank pain and weight loss. Abdominal CT and colonoscopy revealed a huge ascending colon mass. Despite the initial impression of a malignancy, a colonoscopic biopsy revealed no malignant cells, but sulfur granules and a filamentous organism suggesting actinomycosis. Intravenous penicillin G was administered under the impression of abdominal actinomycosis but her condition deteriorated rapidly. Follow up CT showed markedly increased colon mass and new multiple nodular lesions around the ascending colon. Sono-guided percutaneous biopsy of the nodular lesion was performed. The pathological result was DLBCL. The patient was scheduled to undergo chemotherapy but the patient expired due to cancer progression. The diagnosis of gastrointestinal infiltrating tumors is often difficult because a superficial biopsy usually does not provide a confirmative diagnosis. This case highlights the difficulty in making a correct diagnosis of lymphoma due to the concomitant actinomycosis. Malignant conditions must be considered in cases of actinomycosis with no response to antimicrobial therapy.
Actinomycosis ; Aged ; B-Lymphocytes ; Biopsy ; Colon ; Colon, Ascending ; Colonic Neoplasms ; Colonoscopy ; Diagnosis ; Drug Therapy ; Female ; Flank Pain ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Lymphoma ; Lymphoma, B-Cell ; Lymphoma, Large B-Cell, Diffuse ; Masks ; Penicillin G ; Sulfur ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Weight Loss

No abstract available.
Aged ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols/adverse effects ; Bone Marrow Cells/cytology/pathology ; Female ; Flow Cytometry ; Fusion Proteins, bcr-abl/*genetics ; Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor/therapeutic use ; Humans ; Immunophenotyping ; Leukemia/*diagnosis/etiology ; Lymphoma, Large B-Cell, Diffuse/*drug therapy ; Phenotype ; Rituximab/administration & dosage

OBJECTIVETo explore the clinical and prognostic features as well as treatment response of childhood B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma/acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-NHL/B-ALL), so as to better modify the treatment for further improving the prognosis.

METHODSThe clinical data of 43 patients with newly-diagnosed childhood B-NHL/B-ALL from July 2005 to December 2013 in West China Second Hospital of Sichuan University were retrospectively analyzed with particular focus on clinical presentations, laboratory findings and histology. Among them 26 patients received B-NHL-2010 protocol and 17 patients received LMB-89 protocol treatment. Kaplan-Meier method was used to compare the survival rates between groups, while multiple factor logistic regression was used to identify the prognostic factors.

RESULTS(1) The median age at diagnosis was 7.58 (2.42-13.67) years. The male-to-female ratio was 2.9 : 1. No significant difference was found in the median age at diagnosis between male and female children with B-NHL/B-ALL (P = 0.837). (2) Burkitt's lymphoma was the most common (34/43, 79.07%), followed by diffuse large B cell lymphoma (4/43, 9.3%), ALL-L3 (3/43, 6.98%) and others (2/43, 4.65%) in decreasing frequency. (3) According to St. Jude staging classification, 4 patients (9.30%) were divided into stage I, 9 patients (20.93%) into stage II, 23 patients (53.49%) into stage III and 7 patients (16.28%) into stage IV; (4) Clinically, the common predilection sites were as following: ileocecus (11/43, 25.58%), nasopharynx (10/43, 23.26%), faciomaxillary (9/43, 20.93%), superficial lymphadenopathy (8/43, 18.60%), other sites such as mediastinum and bone marrow (5/43, 11.63%). (5) With a median follow up of 24 months (0.7-105 months), the 2-year overall survival (OS) rate and event-free survival (EFS) rate were 79.8% ± 6.5%% and 71.0% ± 7.2%, respectively. The 2-year OS and EFS rates in patients treated with B-NHL-2010 protocol were 79.1% ± 8.4% and 74.1% ± 8.4%, while those in patients treated with LMB-89 protocol were 87.5% ± 8.3% and 66.7% ± 12.4%, respectively, but there was no significant difference between them (P > 0.05). The 2-year EFS rate in patients with LDH > 2N and bone marrow infiltration were significantly lower than that of other groups (P < 0.05). (6) 8 patients (18.6%) relapsed. The median relapsed time was 6 months (2-9 months). 1 patient suffered progressive disease. Male, systemic symptom, elevated LDH, bone marrow and CNS infiltration and advanced stage (stage III and stage IV) were associated with relapse /progressive disease. Logistic regression analysis showed that LDH > 2N was an independent unfavorable prognostic factors (OR = 31.129, P = 0.02).

CONCLUSIONOutcome of B-NHL/B-ALL is greatly improved by current intensive and short-time chemotherapy regimen. The 2-year event-free survival (EFS) rate is 71.0% ± 7.2%. There is no significant difference in EFS rate between patients treated with B-NHL-2010 protocol and LMB89 protocol. The long-term survival rate in patient with advanced disease need to be further improved.

Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols ; therapeutic use ; Burkitt Lymphoma ; diagnosis ; drug therapy ; Child ; Cyclophosphamide ; therapeutic use ; Cytarabine ; therapeutic use ; Disease-Free Survival ; Doxorubicin ; therapeutic use ; Etoposide ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Humans ; Hydrocortisone ; therapeutic use ; Leucovorin ; therapeutic use ; Logistic Models ; Lymphoma, B-Cell ; diagnosis ; drug therapy ; Lymphoma, Large B-Cell, Diffuse ; diagnosis ; drug therapy ; Male ; Methotrexate ; therapeutic use ; Multivariate Analysis ; Neoplasm Staging ; Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma ; diagnosis ; drug therapy ; Prednisone ; therapeutic use ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate ; Vincristine ; therapeutic use

Polyarthritis is a common manifestation of rheumatologic disorders; however, paraneoplastic arthropathies also arise as polyarthritis or polymyalgia, particularly in patients with myelomas, lymphomas, acute leukemia, and solid tumors. Because paraneoplastic syndromes, in some instances, might be manifested before a cancer diagnosis, they are difficult to diagnose and are often misdiagnosed. We experienced a 63-year-old female patient who had nonspecific arthritis on both hands and feet accompanied by fever. She had been diagnosed as rheumatoid arthritis and treated with prednisolone and disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) including methotrexate and anti-tumor necrosis factor agents. Her arthritis did not respond with anti-rheumatic treatment and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma was diagnosed by bone marrow biopsy. After 6 cycles of chemotherapy, her arthritis was improved as well as underlying lymphoma.
Antirheumatic Agents ; Arthritis* ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid ; B-Lymphocytes* ; Biopsy ; Bone Marrow* ; Diagnosis ; Drug Therapy ; Female ; Fever ; Foot ; Hand ; Humans ; Leukemia ; Lymphoma ; Lymphoma, B-Cell* ; Lymphoma, Large B-Cell, Diffuse ; Methotrexate ; Middle Aged ; Necrosis ; Paraneoplastic Syndromes ; Prednisolone

OBJECTIVETo analyze the clinical course of a very elderly patient with advanced diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL), so as to explore the incidence, prognosis and treatment of DLBCL and to analyse the prognostic and therapeutic significance of molecular subtype.

METHODSThe clinical history, auxiliary examinations, clinical diagnostic standards, therapeutic methods, biopsy and autopsy of this patient were retrospectively analyzed; the incidence, current treatment status, molecular biological features, and prognostic and therapeutic significance of molecular subtype were studied.

RESULTSAfter admission, this patient was diagnosed as non-GCB DLBCL, NOS, stage IV B and in the high risk group (IPI = 5, ECOG = 2). She achieved a decent partial response after many times of imunochemotherapy, but his disease status soon progressed. The liver occupying biopsy revealed non-GCB, while the spleen tumor pathology revealed GCB; pathological typing of these two methods was completely opposite. Autopsy pathological diagnosis showed that the death causes included extensive tumor metastasis, dyscrasia and respiratory circle failure.

CONCLUSIONIncidence of aged patients with DLBCL is high, and the disease is aggressive; the treatment is low responsive and difficult, and new therapeutic methods are needed. Gene expression profile (GEP) can provide molecular subtype and potential pathogenic mechanism, which can promote the development of new targeted therapy and individualized treatment.

Aged ; Female ; Humans ; Lymphoma, Large B-Cell, Diffuse ; diagnosis ; pathology ; therapy ; Neoplasm Staging ; Prognosis

OBJECTIVETo investigate the clinicopathological manifestation, immunophenotypic features and prognostic factors of patients with primary breast DLBCL (PB-DLBCL).

METHODSTwelve cases of PB-DLBCL, diagnosed according to the 2008 World Health Organization classification of tumors of hematopoietic and lymphoid tissues, were retrospectively studied.

RESULTSMost patients were admitted to hospital because of painless unilateral breast mass. Out of 12 cases, 5 were in Ann Arbor stage I (41.7%), 7 case were in stage II (58.3%). Most (89.9%) were assigned to non-GCB subtypes, 11.1% were classified as GCB subtype. The patients who recepted treatment were sensitive to chemotherapy and they were all alive following 12 to 92 months.

CONCLUSIONPrimary breast DLBCL is extremely rare without specific clinical features. They all respond well to chemotherapy and show good prognosis.

Breast Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; pathology ; therapy ; Humans ; Lymphoma, Large B-Cell, Diffuse ; diagnosis ; pathology ; therapy ; Neoplasm Staging ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Among diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) patients, determining the appropriate dose and chemotherapy schedule to balance toxicity and efficacy is harder in elderly than in younger patients. Moreover, there are no currently available clinical factors that consistently identify patients who are unfit to receive chemotherapy. Therefore, the clinical characteristics and outcomes of elderly patients with DLBCL and the causes of treatment-related death were investigated in this study. METHODS: The clinical characteristics and outcomes of 44 elderly (> or = 70 years of age) patients diagnosed with DLBCL between January 2005 and June 2013 were evaluated. Variable clinical data along with the response rate, overall survival (OS), and causes of treatment-related death or treatment interruption were investigated. RESULTS: The median OS was 18.6 months, and 19 patients completed curative treatment. The mean average relative dose intensity of adriamycin in patients who completed chemotherapy was 0.617, and of these patients, 16 achieved complete remission. Chemotherapy incompletion, infectious complications, ex tranoda l involvement, high lactate dehydrogenase, poor performance status, and low albumin level at diagnosis were related to a shorter OS. However, multivariate analysis revealed that only infections and chemotherapy incompletion were significantly related to poor prognosis. The most common cause of treatment-related death was infection, and patients who had experienced infectious complications tended to have lower albumin levels than those of patients without such complications. CONCLUSIONS: In the treatment of elderly lymphoma patients, the dose intensity of adriamycin is not as important as it is in young patients. However, in elderly patients, infections are particularly dangerous, especially in patients with low albumin levels.
Age Factors ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Antibiotics, Antineoplastic/*administration & dosage/adverse effects ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols/adverse effects/*therapeutic use ; Chi-Square Distribution ; Communicable Diseases/blood/diagnosis/mortality ; Disease Progression ; Doxorubicin/*administration & dosage/adverse effects ; Female ; Geriatric Assessment ; Humans ; Kaplan-Meier Estimate ; Lymphoma, Large B-Cell, Diffuse/blood/diagnosis/*drug therapy/mortality ; Male ; Multivariate Analysis ; Proportional Hazards Models ; Remission Induction ; Republic of Korea ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Serum Albumin/analysis ; Time Factors ; Treatment Outcome

No abstract available.
Antibodies, Monoclonal, Murine-Derived/therapeutic use ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols/therapeutic use ; B-Cell-Specific Activator Protein/metabolism ; Bone Marrow/metabolism/*pathology ; Cyclophosphamide/therapeutic use ; Doxorubicin/therapeutic use ; Endoscopy, Digestive System ; Female ; Gene Rearrangement, gamma-Chain T-Cell Antigen Receptor ; Genetic Loci ; Humans ; Liver/metabolism/pathology ; Lymphocytes/cytology/immunology ; Lymphoma, Large B-Cell, Diffuse/complications/*diagnosis/drug therapy ; Lymphoma, T-Cell, Peripheral/complications/*diagnosis/drug therapy ; Middle Aged ; Prednisone/therapeutic use ; Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta/genetics ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Vincristine/therapeutic use