Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2007 May;245(5):784-9.
doi: 10.1097/01.sla.0000254418.90192.59.

Primary breast lymphoma: the role of mastectomy and the importance of lymph node status

William C Jennings  1 , Randal S Baker, Sunshine S Murray, C Anthony Howard, Donald E Parker, Linda F Peabody, Heather M Vice, William W Sheehan, Thomas A Broughan
Affiliations

Primary breast lymphoma: the role of mastectomy and the importance of lymph node status

William C Jennings et al. Ann Surg. 2007 May.

Abstract

Objective: To construct and analyze a database comprised of all reported cases of primary breast lymphoma (PBL) that include treatment and follow-up information published during the last 3 decades.

Summary background data: PBL accounts for 0.4% of breast malignancies and 2% of extranodal lymphomas. Surgical therapy has varied from biopsy to radical mastectomy. Chemotherapy and radiation therapy have been used as adjuvant or primary therapy. A standard consensus treatment of PBL is not available.

Methods: We reviewed all published PBL reports from June 1972 to March 2005. A database was compiled by abstracting individual patient information, limiting our study to those reports that contained specific treatment and outcome data. Patient demographics such as survival, recurrence, and time to follow-up were recorded, in addition to surgical, radiation, and/or chemotherapy treatment(s).

Results: We found 465 acceptable patients reported in 92 publications. Age range was 17 to 95 years (mean, 54 years). Mean tumor size was 3.5 cm. Diffuse large cell (B) lymphoma was the most common histologic diagnosis (53%). Disease-free survival was 44.5% overall. Follow-up ranged from one to 288 months (mean, 48 months). Treatment by mastectomy offered no survival benefit or protection from recurrence. Treatment that included radiation therapy in stage I patients (node negative) showed benefit in both survival and recurrence rates. Treatment that included chemotherapy in stage II patients (node positive) showed benefit in both survival and recurrence rates. Histologic tumor grade predicted survival.

Conclusions: Mastectomy offers no benefit in the treatment of PBL. Nodal status predicts outcome and guides optimal use of radiation and chemotherapy.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

None
FIGURE 1. Survival curves for all patients with treatment that included mastectomy (n = 152) versus all patients treated without mastectomy (n = 297).
None
FIGURE 2. Survival curves for node-negative patients (stage I) (P = 0.002).
None
FIGURE 3. Survival curves for node-positive patients (stage II) (P = 0.001).
None
FIGURE 4. Survival curves for patients with known node status when treatment included mastectomy (n = 100) versus those patients treated without mastectomy (n = 205).
None
FIGURE 5. Survival according to histology grading (P = 0.037).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Kim SH, Ezekiel MP, Kim RY. Primary lymphoma of the breast. Am J Clin Oncol. 1999;22:381–383. - PubMed
    1. Shapiro CM, Mansur D. Bilateral primary breast lymphoma. Am J Clin Oncol. 2001;24:85–86. - PubMed
    1. Dao AH, Adkins RB, Glick AD. Malignant lymphoma of the breast: a review of 13 cases. Am Surg. 1992;58:792–796. - PubMed
    1. Zack RJ, Trevisan SG, Gupta M. Primary breast lymphoma originating in a benign intramammary lymph node. AJR Am J Roentgenol. 2001;177:177–178. - PubMed
    1. Wiseman C, Liao KT. Primary lymphoma of the breast. Cancer. 1972;29:1705–1712. - PubMed