[Clinicopathologic features of primary thyroid lymphoma].

Background & Objective: Primary thyroid lymphoma (PTL) is a rare disease. It is likely to be misdiagnosed, and its treatment remains controversy. This study was to investigate clinicopathologic features of PTL, and explore proper treatments.
Methods: Records of 22 patients with PTL treated in Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences from Jan.1990 to Jan. 2004 were retrospectively analyzed.
Results: Of the 22 patients, 18 were women, 4 were men. The median age is 55 (33-80) years. All patients were B-cell original; according to WHO classification, 16 (72.7%) were diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), and 6 (27.3%) were mucosa associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma. Five patients received surgery alone; 7 received radiotherapy after surgery, 6 received chemotherapy after surgery, 4 received chemotherapy and radiotherapy after surgery. With a median follow-up of 42 (1-168) months, 5-year relapse-free survival rate was 34.78%, and 5-year overall survival rate was 37.36%.
Conclusions: PTL typically occurs in women. The majority of PTL is B-cell original; DLBCL, and MALT lymphoma were the most common histological subtypes. Patients with PTL of stage IE or IIE should be treated with surgery-based combined modality.