[A clinical study of primary lymphoma of bone]

Primary non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) of bone is a rare disease, accounting for less than 1% of all NHL cases and 3-5% of all extranodal lymphoma cases. Of 512 NHL patients treated at our department, 9 patients (1.8%, median age of 54 years) had primary NHL of bone. The disease was histologically of the diffuse type in all a patient, and of the large cell type in 6. The disease was at stage 1 in 8 patients and stage II in 1. The patients all received radiotherapy of 30-40 Gy following either the CHOP or COP-BLAM chemotherapy regimens. Treatment achieved complete remission in 8 patients. Six patients still alive (median follow-up: 63 months). It has been reported that survival is longer for patients treated with a combination of chemotherapy and radiotherapy than those, treated with radiotherapy alone. Consequently, we conclude that the standard treatment course for primary NHL of bone should be chemotherapy followed by radiotherapy.