Primary non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of the common bile duct

Primary non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of the common bile duct is rare. To date, nine cases have been recorded in the literature. We report an additional case of a 39-yr-old woman presented with obstructive jaundice. Pathological studies of the surgical specimen disclosed that the wall of the common bile duct was transmurally infiltrated by non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of diffuse large cell type of B-cell lineage intimately associated with reticular fibers. The patient received postoperative brachytherapy, followed by six cycles of chemotherapy according to the CHOP regimen. There is no evidence of lymphoma recurrence 13 months after the surgery. Our analysis of the reported cases indicates that common bile duct non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is a rapidly progressive disease, terminating in death within a year. A complete surgical resection of the lymphoma followed by chemotherapy has shown a promising result.