Primary, extranodal, follicular non-Hodgkin lymphoma of the gallbladder: case report and a review of the literature

Abstract

We report the first case of isolated primary extranodal non-Hodgkin lymphoma follicular grade 2 limited to the gallbladder, found in the laparoscopic cholecystectomy specimen from a 70 year old woman with symptomatic cholelithiasis. The pericystic duct lymph node, surgical margins, and other lymph nodes, were not involved with lymphoma. According to the medical literature in English language, mucosa associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma (6 cases) is the most frequent type (38%) of primary gallbladder lymphomas (15 reported cases plus our case). Our case demonstrates that follicular lymphoma can be limited to the gallbladder, and confirm that it can occur in an organ normally devoid of lymphoid tissue.