Unusual case of follicular lymphoma of vocal cord

Primary laryngeal lymphoma is a rare diagnosis, accounting for less than 1% of all laryngeal tumors. Approximately 100 cases have been reported in the English-language literature. A variety of lymphoma classifications have been described, including diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, NK/T-cell lymphoma, Burkitt lymphoma, lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma, mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma, mantle cell lymphoma, marginal zone lymphoma, and peripheral T-cell lymphoma. To our knowledge, follicular lymphoma involving the larynx has been rarely reported. We report a case of a 74-year-old woman who presented with a 1-year history of hoarseness refractory to semi-occluded vocal tract (SOVT) therapy and was diagnosed with follicular lymphoma involving the false vocal fold. At presentation, the patient felt well and did not have any B symptoms. Initial computed tomography (CT) scan of the neck did not show any lesions, but a subsequent videolaryngostroboscopy revealed a small lesion in the false vocal folds. The lesion was surgically excised, and histological evaluation revealed features consistent with a diagnosis of follicular lymphoma. Herein, we present a rare case of primary follicular lymphoma of the larynx and describe its histological and immunophenotypic characteristics. Furthermore, we conducted an extensive review of the English-language literature and discuss comparable published cases.