Diffuse large b-cell lymphoma of the lung in pregnancy a case report

Primary lung lymphoma [PLL] or pulmonary diffuse large B-cell lymphoma [DLBCL] is a rare entity. There is an increase incidence of DLBCL in patients with autoimmune disorders and recurrent or chronic bacterial infection. However, the cause is more complex and involves certain genetic factors for its development. Having lymphoma diagnosed during pregnancy is uncommon, and relatively little information has been available about the management and outcome of lymphoma in pregnant women. Primary pulmonary DLBCL during pregnancy is not even reported in the English medical literature. We are reporting the case of a 34 y/o lady who was diagnosed with DLBCL of the lung during the 19[th] week of her intrauterine pregnancy. She was treated with R-CHOP combination chemotherapy regimen [rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone] and received a total of six cycles before her delivery. Because of the early presentation during the second trimester, she received most of the planned chemotherapy course during the pregnancy. Follow-up of the mother showed major improvement and serial monitoring of the baby showed no developmental delays or physical abnormalities. At delivery the baby had neither side effects from chemotherapy nor any treatment related complications or developmental defects. FDG staging after delivery confirmed the primary pulmonary nature of the disease. Pulmonary DLBCL may present during pregnancy and poly-chemotherapy treatments should be considered as therapeutic options in such complex scenarios

[Role of 18F-FDG PET/CT in the staging of non small cell lung Cancer [NSCLC] : Lebanese experience regarding 72 cases]

Staging of non-small cell lung cancer [NSCLC] plays a key role in the therapeutic choice and directly affects the prognosis. The role of PET/CT [positron emission tomography] using 18-Fluorodeoxyglucose [FDG] for the staging of NSCLC was studied in the Lebanese population. We compared the results of PET/CT with those of the conventional CT scan in T and N staging for 72 patients; we correlated PET/CT outcome with tumor grade and deter- mined the impact of the difference between staging NSCLC using PET/CT and CT on the therapeutic options. A positive correlation between the results of PET/CT and CT scan was found in 85% of cases. PET/CT has correctly classified pleural effusion as benign in three cases and as malignant in one case and increased the N stage by one point in three cases compared to injected CT scan. PET/CT improves the accuracy of staging of NSCLC allowing a good delineation of the primary tumor, a better evaluation of locoregional lymph node involvement and metastases and identification of the nature of pleural effusion