[Non-Hodgkin's malignant lymphoma with central nervous involvement--report of 7 cases]

We encountered 7 non-Hodgkin's lymphomas involving the central nervous system (CNS) among 78 cases of lymphomas seen at the 3rd Dept. of Internal Med. between 1965 and 1980; 5 cases were diffuse histiocytic lymphomas (DH) and 2 were diffuse poorly differentiated lymphomas (DPDL). The age ranged from 27 to 66 years, there were 6 males and 1 female. In 4 cases, CNS involvement was the presenting symptom at the time of diagnosis of lymphoma. The diagnostic procedures in CNS lymphoma included complete neurological physical examination by a neurologist, spinal fluid cytology, surface marker study on lymphocytes of spinal fluid, if possible, computed tomography scan, and myelogram if spinal cord compression was suspected. The prognosis of patients with CNS involvement by lymphoma was poor even if early diagnosis was made. The conventional therapy for CNS lymphoma included cranial irradiation, systemic chemotherapy, and intrathecal instillation of methotrexate and/or cytosine arabinoside, or a combined modality; however, these treatments were only effective temporarily.