Primary non-Hodgkins lymphoma of muscle

A retrospective analysis was made of all patients with primary muscle non-Hodgkin's lymphomas registered with the Scotland and Newcastle Lymphoma Group over a 15-year period. Only eight patients were identified. The median age was 69 years (range 27-93). Five patients were male and six lymphomas were of high grade histology. The glutei and upper arm muscles were the main sites of origin, with the additional involvement of adjacent bone in four patients; only three had lymph node involvement at presentation. Most patients (6/8) received both chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The median survival was 33 months. The conclusion is that this is a small group of patients whose outlook is not as poor as has been suggested in previous reports.