Peripheral T-cell lymphoma in a chronically immunosuppressed renal transplant patient

Non-Hodgkin large cell lymphomas occurs more commonly in organ-transplanted patients than in the general population. They are usually of B-cell origin whereas T-cell lymphomas are rare. We report a new case of peripheral T-cell lymphoma in an immunosuppressed renal transplanted patient. The patient presented a hepatosplenic mass with a widespread extension causing serious pancytopenia. It was classified as a pleomorphic medium and large cell type and corresponded to the "common" alpha beta-TCR type lymphoma. Lymphomatous cells exhibited an incomplete mature T-cell phenotype. T-cell receptor gene clonal rearrangement associated with a germline configuration of the immunoglobulin heavy chain gene confirmed a clonal T-cell genotype. By using both Southern blot analysis and polymerase chain reaction, we failed to demonstrate any association with Epstein-Barr virus or human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I or type II.