[Primary brain lymphomas]

In the Department of Neurosurgery of the Medical University of Warsaw 11 patients with primary central nervous system lymphomas were diagnosed and treated between 1990 and 1999. The patients comprised of 6 females and 5 males, aged 23 to 86 years, with most patients presenting in the sixth decade. The time from first symptoms to the diagnosis ranged from a few days to 5 months. In the majority of patients, the leading symptoms were: headaches, motor weakness, aphasia and memory disturbance. Initial diagnosis was based on MR in 3 patients, CT in 7 and on both CT and MR in 1 patient. The frontal lobe was the most common site of involvement. All the patients underwent surgery. The histological diagnosis was confirmed by immunohistochemical analysis using monoclonal antibodies: CD 20, CD3, CKMNF 116. In all cases, a B-cell type lymphoma was diagnosed. Radiotherapy was administered to 4 patients, 2 received chemotherapy and 1 received combined treatment. The median survival time so far is 17.6 months.