Association between thymic MALT lymphoma and Sjogren's syndrome

Introduction. - Thymic mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma is a rare pathology, often associated with autoimmune diseases. The authors report the case of an Asian woman with Sjogren's syndrome. Observation. - A 48-year-old Chinese woman, without past medical history and a nonsmoker, presented an alteration in her overall condition, dyspnoea at exercise, inflammatory polyarthralgia, and a dry eye and mouth syndrome over the last few months. Thoracic tomo-densitometry detected an anterior heterogenic cystic mediastinal mass. A mediastinotomy was performed. The diagnosis of the surgical biopsy was thymic MALT lymphoma. The authors also diagnosed Sjogren's syndrome with the presence of four diagnostic criteria. Chemotherapy by rituximab, cyclophosphamide, vincristine, prednisone induced major tumoral regression. The patient declined surgery and will be monitored. Conclusion. - Thymic MALT lymphoma is a rare pathology. There is a high correlation with autoimmune diseases, like Sjogren's syndrome. Its appearance is that of an anterior mediastinal. mass with a cystic component. The treatment is not well codified and is most often based on surgical resection, eventually followed by chemotherapy or radiotherapy. As far as the authors know, this is the second case of thymic MALT lymphoma treated by exclusive chemotherapy. (C) 2009 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.