Bilateral peripheral T-cell lymphoma of breast: a case report

Primary non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) of the breast is uncommon and the bilateral involvement is extremely rare. Usually, primary breast lymphoma is of B-cell phenotype, most common subtype being the diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Preoperative differentiation of lymphoma from carcinoma is essential and limited material can pose diagnostic problem unless the index of suspicion is high. Twenty six year old pregnant lady, presented with bilateral breast lumps with a clinical impression of carcinoma. Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) followed by biopsy of the breast mass was performed and a diagnosis of NHL, peripheral T-cell type (not otherwise specified) was made. She received 8 cycles of CHOP chemotherapy and showed dramatic improvement with regression of bilateral breast masses. She had an uneventful normal delivery and both the mother and the child are doing well. Since FNAC is a primary diagnostic tool for all breast lesions, a differential of lymphoma should always be kept in mind in all poorly differentiated malignant tumours. Such cases need biopsy confirmation and immunophenotyping for further sub-typing.