Epstein-Barr virus-associated high-grade B-cell lymphoma of mucosal-associated lymphoid tissue in a 9-year-old Boy

We report an unusual case of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-associated mucosal-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma involving the lungs, kidneys, and axillary lymph nodes in a child with congenital hypoadrenalism and panhypopituitarism. The patient presented with an aggressive clinical course and histologic evolution. Initial biopsies (1994) of the lung and kidney revealed histologic features of low-grade B-cell MALT lymphoma with lymphoepithelial lesions within the renal tubules and bronchial epithelium. Subsequent biopsies (1996, 1997, and 1999) revealed progressively greater cytologic atypia, polymorphism, and necrosis; an increased mitotic rate; and a preponderance of large cells, indicative of progression from a low-grade to a high-grade MALT lymphoma. Immunophenotyping of the lung and lymph node lesions revealed identical surface marker profiles: cells were CD19(+), CD20(+), immunoglobulin (Ig) G(+), kappa(+), lambda(-), CD5(-), CD10(-), CD23(-), and IgM(-), and also negative for T-cell markers. Genotypic analysis demonstrated the presence of immunoglobulin heavy chain rearrangement and monoclonality of EBV in the lung lesion by Southern blot hybridization and polymerase chain re()action (PCR). The clinicopathologic features suggest that these lesions might represent an immunosupression-related continuum of low-grade to high-grade MALT lymphomas. Infection with EBV may have contributed to this tumor's aggressive clinical and histologic evolution.