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Updated: Jul 11, 2026

Anterior High-Resolution Optical Coherence Tomography in the Diagnosis and Therapeutic Monitoring of Ocular Surface Squamous Neoplasia
Published on: August 9, 2024
[Primary cutaneous plasmacytoma]
Rym Dhouib Sellami1, Samia Sassi, Karima Mrad
1Service d'Anatomie et de Cytologie Pathologiques, Hôpital régional de Zaghouan, Tunis, Tunisie.
Insights
Primary cutaneous plasmacytoma (PCP), a rare B cell lymphoma, presents as a cheek nodule. Solitary lesions show a good prognosis and are treated with surgery and radiotherapy.
Area of Science:
- Dermatology
- Oncology
- Hematology
Background:
- Primary cutaneous plasmacytoma (PCP) is an uncommon B cell lymphoma affecting the skin.
- It is crucial to differentiate PCP from metastatic myeloma lesions due to prognostic differences.
Observation:
- A case of PCP in a 64-year-old woman with a nodular lesion on the left cheek is presented.
- Histological examination revealed predominantly mature plasma cells with monotypic lambda chain expression.
- Extracutaneous involvement was ruled out.
Findings:
- The lesion was characterized by variably matured plasma cells with a single type of light chain (monotypic lambda).
- No evidence of disease spread to other organs was found.
Implications:
- PCP generally has a better prognosis than metastatic myeloma skin lesions.
- Tumor size and clinical presentation (solitary vs. multiple lesions) are key prognostic factors.
- Solitary PCP lesions are effectively managed with surgical excision, potentially combined with radiotherapy.
Abstract:
Primary cutaneous plasmacytoma (PCP) is a rare cutaneous B cell lymphoma. We report a case of PCP in a 64 year old woman presenting with a nodular lesion of the left cheek. Histologically, the lesion was composed predominately of variably maturated plasma cells with monotypic expression of lambda chain. Extracutaneous localizations of the disease had been excluded. The prognosis of PCP is better than that of the metastatic cutaneous lesion of myeloma. The main prognosis factors are the size tumor and clinical presentation (solitary, versus multiple lesions). Solitary lesions of the PCP are treated by surgical excision and sometimes local radiotherapy.
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