Primary thyroid lymphoma:report of 7 cases and review of literature / 中国实用内科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the clinical characteristics of primary thyroid lymphoma(PTL) and its prognostic factors.Methods Clinical and pathological data of 7 cases diagnosed as primary thyroid lymphoma were retrospectively analyzed.Results All of the 7 patients were diagnosed on thyroidectomy and presented with thyroid nodules,of whom 6 cases were middle-aged to elderly women and some had locally oppressive symptoms.Four cases were diagnosed as diffuse large B non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (DLBCL) and 3 were mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue B-cell lymphoma (MALT).Pathological subtype of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue B-cell lymphomas and younger patients had better prognosis.Conclusion The possibility of PTL must be kept in mind in the differential diagnosis of thyroid nodules in middle-aged to elderly women.Age and pathological subtype are important prognostic factors.