Abstract
We report the case of a 42-yr-old man with primary thyroid lymphoma arising from mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT-lymphoma, maltoma). The patient underwent a hemithyroidectomy for a growing mass in the right lobe of the thyroid while being treated with l-thyroxine for Hashimoto's thyroiditis. The clinical diagnosis of Hashimoto's disease was confirmed by aspiration biopsy of the mass during the course of L-thyroxine treatment. Postoperatively, histology showed atypical lymphoproliferative infiltrates suspicious of low-grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue-type, coexisting with a reactive process typical of chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis. Immunophenotyping showed a mixed B- and T-lymphocyte population, which was nondiagnostic. However, Southern blot analysis revealed a clonal rearrangement of the Ig heavy chain gene. This case demonstrates that cytology or histology may not distinguish between reactive or low-grade lymphomatous thyroid processes. The use of molecular technique was essential to prove clonality and the presence of lymphoma.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 1206-1209 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism |
Volume | 84 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 1999 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism
- Biochemistry
- Endocrinology
- Clinical Biochemistry
- Biochemistry, medical