Primary renal lymphoma: A case report and literature review

Abstract

Primary renal lymphoma (PRL) is a rare disease, with no more than 70 cases reported in the literature. The present study reports the case of a 70-year-old woman with PRL. The patient was asymptomatic, however, a mass on the right kidney was identified incidentally during routine physical examination. Computed tomography revealed a mass in the right kidney that was 3.6 cm in diameter. Subsequently, right nephrectomy was performed. The histological evaluation of the nephrectomy specimen showed diffuse large B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The patient was treated with 6-8 cycles of a cyclophosphamide, epirubicin, vindesine and dexamethasone regimen. Follow-up examination performed after 2 months of treatment revealed no evidence of local recurrence. The present study also reviewed 49 cases of PRL that have been reported since 1989. It was found that a shorter survival time was experienced by patients with bilateral PRL (mean, 21 months) compared with unilateral PRL (mean, 68 months). A shorter survival time was also experienced by patients who were treated with chemotherapy only (mean, 15.8 months) compared with those who were treated with combination chemotherapy and surgery (mean, 49.4 months).

Keywords: average survival time; chemotherapy; nephrectomy; primary renal lymphoma; renal tumor.

Figure 1.

(A) Computed tomography (CT) revealing a 3.6-cm mass at the right kidney without associated hydronephrosis or ureteral obstruction. (B) Contrast-enhanced CT showing that the mass of the right kidney exhibited continuous progressive enhancement, with a value of 100 HU in the corticomedullary phase. (C) Histological evaluation of the nephrectomy specimen showing a diffuse large B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. (D) Bone marrow biopsy showing no morphological involvement of lymphoma.