Undifferentiated primary hepatic non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in childhood

This report describes a case of primary non-Hodgkin's lymphoma occurring in the liver of an 11-year-old boy. Preoperative imaging established a large mass confined to the right lobe of the liver; complete removal was effected by right hepatic lobectomy. At presentation, there was serological evidence of active hepatitis B infection, which was confirmed histologically in the nonneoplastic portion of resected liver. The right lobe of liver was virtually replaced by a multinodular tumor mass that histologically resembled small-cell lymphoma. No evidence of either a B- or T-cell lineage could be established by immunophenotyping. However, immunohistochemical staining for panleukocyte markers demonstrated membrane staining. Gene rearrangement studies were not available. The patient remains well with no evidence of disease 2 1/2 years after surgery.