Extranodal non-T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma in adults. A report of two cases

Typical adult cases of malignant lymphoma, diffuse, lymphoblastic type (MLLB), are of the T-cell immunophenotype and occur as mediastinal masses. The authors report two unusual adult cases with initial extranodal sites of involvement and non-T-cell immunophenotype that were originally misclassified. One patient presented with a right submaxillary salivary gland mass and the other presented with a T7-8 spinal cord compression resulting from a vertebral body tumor. A lymphoblastic leukemic phase developed in both patients after 15 months and 5 months, respectively. The bone marrow blasts of both patients had positive results for cluster designation (CD) 10, CD19, HLA-DR, and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase. Because both extranodal sites of presentation and non-T-cell immunophenotype are unusual in adult MLLB, these features may have contributed to the original misclassification of these lesions.