Abstract
We experienced two cases of malignant lymphoma arising in the breast. Case 1 was a 64-year-old female, who was seen at the hospital because of rapid growth of a mass in the left breast. Excision of the mass was performed. The mass was diagnosed as the medium sized cell type of diffuse lymphomas according to the LSG Classification and as Stage I of a B-cell-derived tumor originating from the mammary gland according to the Ann-Arbor Classification. Case 2 was a 76-year-old female, who was seen at the hospital because of a mass in the right breast. Standard radical mastectomy was performed. According to the LSG Classification, the mass was a diffuse lymphoma derived from the medium sized cell type of B-cells. In addition, postoperative Gastintigrams and CT scan revealed several findings, including thickening of the gastric wall and swelling around the aorta, leading to the diagnosis of systemic malignant lymphoma in stage IV according to the Ann-Arbor Classification.
Postoperatively, Case 1 underwent radiotherapy and chemotherapy consisting of CHOP treatment and Case 2, chemotherapy only. Case 1 is alive as of the 22nd month and case 2 died one month after the surgery. When compared with breast cancers, malignant lymphoma arising in the breast have a poor prognosis and present difficulty in diagnosis. This paper also describes a comparison between the two diseases.
