Follicular dendritic cell sarcoma of the tonsil: case report

Abstract

Follicular dendritic cell sarcomas are unusual, and extranodal origin is extremely rare. The English literature contains only eight cases in which this sarcoma has been presented as a tonsillar mass. We report a new case of follicular dendritic cell sarcoma of the tonsil in a 76 year old woman. The patient underwent diagnostic tonsillectomy for a left tonsillar mass, and follicular dendritic cell sarcoma was diagnosed based on histopathological and immunoperoxidase findings. Postoperative radiotherapy was performed. The patient is alive and disease-free at 4 years of follow-up. Without a high index of suspicion, this entity can easily be missed. We believe that follicular dendritic cell sarcoma should be included in the differential diagnosis for any tonsillar mass.