Primary breast non-Hodgkin lymphoma: case report and review of the literature

Non Hodgkin Lymphomas (NHL) are a group of malignant neoplasm of lymphoid origin with heterogeneous biological behavior and anatomical location. Primary breast lymphomas represent 0.004%-0.5% of all breast cancers, less than 0.5% of NHL and comprise 1.7%-2.2% of extraganglionary NHL. More than 700 cases have been published in the last 50 years and its incidence seems to be increasing. We describe a case of primary right breast diffuse large cell NHL and we reviewed and update the literature. We report a case of primary right breast NHL treated at the Hospital General Regional in Cancun, Mexico. A review of the internet database literature is performed. A 54 year old woman is affected of primary right breast NHL and underwent diagnostic surgery and deinitive R-CHOP chemotherapy protocol achieving disease control. NHL diagnostic criteria are: close association of lymphomatous lesion and breast tissue in an adequate pathologic specimen and exclusion of systemic lymphoma or extrammamary NHL in the next 6 months following diagnosis. This disease has heterogeneous clinical presentation and its treatment is similar to other extraganglionary NHL. Due to the rarity of this entity and its clinical and pathological polymorphism, at present, there is no data from clinical trials supporting the optimal standard of care.