Pathologic character and diagnosis of female primary genital system diffuse large B cell lymphoma

We investigated the clinicopathological characteristics and immunophenotype of female genital system diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) in order to improve diagnosis and therapy efficacy.

The clinicopathologic features of 13 cases with primary DLBCL of the female genital system were studied retrospectively. According to the immunophenotypes, 10 cases were classified as germinal center B-cell-like DLBCL and the other 3 as non-center B-cell-like DLBCL.

The immunohistochemistry data showed that CD20, PAX-5, and CD79a tested positive, while CD3, CD43 and CD45RO tested negative in all 13 cases. In 7 cases EMA was positive, in 9 cases CD10 was positive, in 11 cases bcl-6 was positive, and in 9 cases MUM-1 was tested positive. In one case, the Ki-67 index was less than 59%, in 3 cases Ki-67 index was between 60% to 89% and it was more than 90% in the remaining 9 cases (the median was 90%). All 13 patients underwent hysterectomy, while in 10 of them hysterectomy was followed by chemotherapy. The survival time was 3 to 20 months.

Primary diffuse large B-cell lymphoma of the primary female genital system is a rare and highly invasive condition that can be easily misdiagnosed. A complete diagnosis is very important because the treatment and prognosis vary in different histological types. Moreover, the immunohistochemistry is an useful diagnostic method for this type of cancer.