title: Extranodal non-Hodgkin's lymphoma presenting as an abdominal wall mass. A case report and review of the literature.
abstract: Soft tissue lymphoma is a very rare clinical entity with varying presentation characteristics and atypical clinical and imaging features. The present report describes a patient who presented with a painless soft tissue mass on the posterolateral surface of the abdominal wall, simulating a neoplasm of mesenchymal origin. After complete surgical excision, the tumor was diagnosed as a diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. No B-symptoms were present and clinical staging did not reveal other sites of disease (stage I EA). The International Prognostic Index score was equal to 1 and classified the patient to the good risk group. Post-operatively the patient was treated with immuno-chemotherapy consisting of rituximab plus cyclophosphamide, epirubicin, vincristine and prednisolone and is currently free of disease for 10 months. The case is discussed with a brief review of the literature on the diagnosis, treatment and outcome of soft tissue lymphomas.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Therapeutics, Medical School, University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bozas
authors.forename: Dimitra
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Anagnostou
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tassidou
authors.forename: Lia A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Moulopoulos
authors.forename: Aristotelis
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bamias
authors.forename: Meletios A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Dimopoulos
mesh_terms: D000008:Abdominal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000601:surgery; D034861:Abdominal Wall / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D000368:Aged; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006801:Humans; D008080:Liposarcoma / Q000175:diagnosis*; D016393:Lymphoma, B-Cell / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000601:surgery; D008228:Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D012983:Soft Tissue Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000601:surgery; D016896:Treatment Outcome