Malignant lymphoma with primary manifestation in the gonad: a clinicopathologic study of 38 patients

This study is based on 38 patients, each of whom had a malignant lymphoma in which the gonad was the site of the main tumor mass at the time of diagnosis. Histiocytic lymphoma was the predominant type in the 27 male patients; in the 11 female patients, poorly differentiated lymphocytic lymphoma was the most frequent type (36%). All of the neoplasms in the males were diffuse, whereas two of the females had neoplasms that were nodular and diffuse. A striking feature was the high frequency of vascular invasion (41%) in the testicular lymphomas, which was reflected in a high incidence (86%) of noncontiguous lung involvement at autopsy, suggesting hematogenous spread. Clinically occult disease is probably responsible for the short interval between the discovery of a gonadal mass and the appearance of generalized disease. A poor prognosis may be expected if there is evidence of generalized disease within one year after diagnosis. Only 2 patients had disseminated disease after a year, whereas all those who died of disseminated disease manifested it within six months after diagnosis. Disease-freee survival times in excess of 60 months in 3 patients who were treated only by orchiectomy or oophorectomy indicate that the gonads may be the primary site of a malignant lymphoma.