Primary Central Nervous System Lymphoma in Immunocompetent Patients: A Literature Review and the Experiment

Abstract

BACKGROUND Primary santral nervous system (CNS) lymphoma is a rare form of non-Hodgin's lymphoma that develops within the craniospinal axis and causes less than 5% of all primary brain tumors. It is defined as lymphoma developing in the brain, leptomeninges, spinal cord or eyes without evidence of lymphoma outside the CNS. Clinico-histopathological characteristics of eighteen patients with primary CNS lymphoma were examined and followed-up for the treatment and subsequent management in Neurosurgery, and Medical Radiation Oncology. MATERIALS and METHODS This study includes all cases of primary CNS lymphoma diagnosed in our Department of Pathology between 2006 and 2009. Age, sex, clinical presentation and laboratory features analysis of the cases were carried out In addition, routine hematoxylin and eosin stains (H&E) and special stains, immunohistochemistry were carried out using CD-45 CD-20, CD-19, CD-3, CD-5, CD-10, MIB-I and Bcl-6. RESULTS Primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) was mostly observed in the temporal and parietal and parietal region. The mean age of the patients was 57.72, ranging from 33 to 83 years. Females outnumbered males with a ratio of 1.25: 1. The most common symptom observed, was headache which was followed by neuro communicative symptoms. Histologically, all the patients exhibited diffuse B-cell lymphoma. Two patients suffered from multiple lesions. Three of the patients died within 2 years. CONCLUSION There is an increase in the prevalence of primary CNS lymphomas not only in immune defiency patients, but also in the immune competent patients and therefore should be taken into account in the differential diagnosis of all tumor of the CNS.