Primary Burkitt's lymphoma of the liver: report of a case with long-term survival after surgical resection and combination chemotherapy.
OBJECTIVE
A case of primary Burkitt's cell lymphoma of the liver is reported.


METHODS
A 14-year-old Chinese boy presented with a 10-day history of postprandial epigastric pain and weight loss.


RESULTS
Preoperative imaging studies revealed a large solid mass confined to the right lobe of the liver; there was no evidence of involvement of other sites. There was serological and immunohistochemical evidence of asymptomatic hepatitis B virus infection. Complete removal of the mass was achieved by right hepatic lobectomy. Histological examination revealed a small noncleaved cell lymphoma of Burkitt's type that immunostained positively for B-cell markers. The patient remains well, with no evidence of disease > 8 years after surgical resection and combination chemotherapy.


CONCLUSIONS
Only five cases (two children and three adults) of primary small noncleaved cell lymphoma of the liver have been reported. We believe this is the second reported case of childhood hepatic lymphoma with long-term disease-free survival. Further work is needed to elucidate the relationship between hepatitis B virus infection and the development of a primary small noncleaved lymphoma of the liver.
Huang
C B
CB
Department of Pediatrics, Chang Gung Medical College, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Eng
H L
HL
Chuang
J H
JH
Cheng
Y F
YF
Chen
W J
WJ
D000293:Adolescent; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002051:Burkitt Lymphoma / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male