Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma in the uterus with unexpected manifestations: a case report

Lymphoid neoplasm is a common disease, arising from lymphoid cells. It is divided into Hodgkin lymphoma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Non-Hodgkin lymphoma can be intranodular or extranodular, which happens in 25% of primary cases. The most common locations of extranodular non-Hodgkin lymphoma are the skin and gastrointestinal tract. The genital tract is a rare location; most lymphomas arise from the cervix and vagina, while the uterine corpus is an extremely rare location. In our case, the patient was diagnosed with primary extranodular non-Hodgkin lymphoma in different locations of her genital tract.

A 48-year-old nonparous Syrian woman complained of diffuse abdominal pain, fatigue, debility, high fever, vomiting, and urinary retention for a week. The last menstrual period of the patient was 5 years previously. The physical examination showed periodic abdominal pain with severe fatigue and increased abdominal size. The laboratory investigations were within normal limits except for a low level of hemoglobin and a high level of cancer antigen 125. The radiological investigations showed a uterine sizable lobulated mass with irregular borders and high and heterogeneous density, extending to the right and left ovaries, enlargement lymph nodes around the abdominal aortic and right iliac vessels, and severe right pleural effusion with right inferior lobe atelectasis. A total hysterectomy and oophorectomy were done. The histopathological examination showed that the patient had non-Hodgkin lymphoma (primary tumor).

Primary non-Hodgkin lymphoma in the female genital tract is an extremely rare disease. Fast diagnosis and treatment can improve the outcomes, so this differential diagnosis should be in our minds even in the absence of systematic manifestations of lymphoma. More studies are needed to explain the pathology of this disease and to put guidelines that determine the perfect methods for diagnosis and treatment.