Malignant Lymphoma of Thyroid Gland: Report of 5 Cases

Abstract

We have retrospectively reviewed 5 cases of primary thyroid lymphoma for a better understanding of the presentation, histology, management, and outcome. There were four females and one male with a median age of 55.4 years old at diagnosis. All were presented with an enlarging thyroid nodular mass. Thyroid sonography and fine needle aspiration cytology had been performed as routine screening. Abdominal CT and bone marrow biopsy/aspiration were performed for staging. Four cases had received thyroidectomy and one had incisional biopsy. All presented with localized disease without B symptoms. The histological types were diffuse large B cell lymphoma (2 cases), mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma (2 cases), and MALT lymphoma with focal high-grade transformation (I case). Two patients had previous history of Hashimoto's disease. Chemotherapy with regimens of CVP or CEOP was given. The mean follow-up duration was 1.6 years. The disease recurred with progression in 4 patients. One patient got complete remission with no evidence of disease for 14 months. Poor prognosis of survival was noted in both MALT lymphoma and DLCL despite its initial staging and histology. However, we cannot make any conclusion because of the small patients' group with different histology type. Further study is needed.