Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma involving the gynecologic tract: A review of 88 cases

Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) involving the gynecologic tract is unusual and may cause confusion for the pathologist not familiar with its clinical and histologic features. The literature regarding this topic is also confusing, as modern NHL classification systems were not used or patients were not staged according to the Ann Arbor system in many prior reports. In addition, immunophenotypic data is not available for many cases, particularly in older studies. In the past year, there has been an interest in NHL involving the gynecologic tract and 88 cases have been collected. These cases were reviewed in the Pathology Department of M.D. Anderson Cancer Center during the past two decades, and many of these patients were treated at this hospital. In this review, these cases are reported using updated terminology and almost all cases were immunophenotyped using immunohistochemical methods or flow cytometric methods in a small subset of cases. These cases have also been segregated into two groups: 1) localized NHL, that presumably initially arose in the gynecologic tract and therefore are primary; and 2) NHL that involved the gynecologic tract as a part of systemic disease, and therefore most likely represent secondary involvement of the gynecologic tract. The differential diagnosis of NHL involving gynecologic organs is discussed.