title: Primary non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of the liver: case report.
abstract: This paper describes a rare occurrence of primary lymphoma of the liver in a young female and demonstrates the possibility of making the correct diagnosis by ultrasonically guided fine needle aspiration biopsy. A 32-year old female suffering from upper abdominal pain, hepatomegaly, nausea, anorexia and weight loss for almost 2 months was admitted to our Department. After a clinical and instrumental (lab exams, ultrasonography, computed tomography) evaluation, we reached the correct diagnosis of hepatic primary non-Hodgkin's lymphoma by means of ultrasonically guided fine needle aspiration biopsy. Two weeks after hospitalization the patient was treated with 8 cycles of CHOP chemotherapy and then with alpha-2b interferon immunotherapy. The hepatic ultrasonography and CT abdominal scan showed the complete absence of the lymphomatous lesions 36 months later. Up to February 1998, the patient was well and led a normal life. We conclude that the CHOP chemotherapy plus interferon immunotherapy were effective and well tolerated with a complete response 38 months following diagnosis.
authors.affiliation: Operative Unit of Medical Oncology, ASL-NA1 San Gennaro Hospital, Naples, Italy. maxsantoro@tuttocitta.it
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Santoro
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Santoro
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Maiorino
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Forestieri
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Forestieri
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology*; D008228:Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology*