The authors describe a case of a female patient, who presented with a rapidly expanding mass of the right breast as the first clinical sign of a Burkitt-like lymphoproliferative disorder. Massive bone marrow infiltration with leukemic spillover and limited lymph node involvement were subsequently detected. The difficulties encountered in classifying, according to current schemes, the observed lymphoid neoplasm are emphasized. Moreover, an evaluation of the true rarity of mammary localizations at the onset of lymphoid malignancies, based on a review of the literature, suggests, especially for the most malignant varieties, a higher frequency than supposed.
The authors describe the results of histological, cytomorphological, cytochemical and immunological studies carried out in two cases of follicular lymphoma characterized at onset by an exceptional degree of splenomegaly. Although several different histological types seem to be capable of giving rise to prominent splenic involvement, the authors, on the basis of the reported findings, suggest the possibility that some cases of follicular lymphoma presenting with conspicuous splenomegaly and which at present are classified in the group of the so-called intermediate lymphocytic lymphoma, might be an expression of proliferation of a cell type normally recognizable in the marginal zone of the splenic follicles.
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