[An autopsy case of an extranodal malignant lymphoma occurring primarily in the chest wall]

This case history involves a 72-year-old male in whom an artificial left pneumothorax had been induced 46 years earlier. Two years ago a subcutaneous tumor was uncovered in his left chest wall, which was reduced with radiation and chemotherapy. Abnormal shadows began to appear in the left lung 5 months prior to his death. On autopsy, tumors were found to have developed in the left pleural cavity and lung, but no tumor cells had infiltrated to the lymph nodes, the liver, the spleen, or the bone marrow. Tumors that were examined by a biopsy or seen on autopsy revealed a diffuse large cell lymphoma, the T cell type. All 7 reported cases in Japan of a primary lymphoma in the thorax have shown a past history of tuberculous pleurisy and/or pyothorax after a pneumothorax.