Primary Pulmonary Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma

Background: Primary pulmonary non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma is a very rare neoplasm. It is repre-sentedmost commonly bymarginal zoneB-cell lymphomaofmucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) type. Although there have been a few reviews of this lymphoma, clinical features, diag-nostic procedure, optimal management and prognostic factors have not been well defined. Methods:We reviewed the medical records of 24 patients who were pathologically and clinically diagnosed as primary pulmonary lymphoma between September 1995 and June 2003. Results: There were 13 patients with MALT lymphoma and two with MALT lymphoma accom-panied by large B-cell lymphoma, seven with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and two with ana-plastic large cell lymphoma. Half the patients were asymptomatic at presentation; 46 % had respiratory symptoms and 16.7 % had B-symptoms. Initial radiological findings were variable including nodules, masses, infiltrates or consolidation. The majority of patients (66.7%) needed surgical approaches (open thoracotomy or video-assisted thoracoscopy) for definite diagnosis. Bronchoscopy was performed in 83%, but only 30 % showed a diagnostic yield. The 13 patients with MALT lymphoma were treated with a variety of modalities such as observation, surgery and single or combination chemotherapy, and combination chemotherapy was administered to 11 patientswith non-MALT lymphoma regardless of surgery. Theoverall survival rate at 3 years for all 24 patients was 86 % with a median follow-up of 32 months. Conclusion: Although this entity of lymphoma appears to have a good prognosis, further clinical experience and long-term follow-up are needed to identify prognostic factors. Key words: lung – MALT lymphoma – non-Hodgkin’s lymphom