Primary hepatic burkitt lymphoma presenting with acute liver failure

Management approaches for primary hepatic lymphoma: 10 year institutional experience with comprehensive literature review

Purpose/objective

Primary hepatic lymphomas (PHL) are an extremely rare form of non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL) for which there are no established treatment guidelines, with available literature largely comprised of small case reports. Therefore, we evaluate our institutional experience treating PHL within the context of existing literature to better understand treatment modalities, role of radiotherapy (RT), and outcomes.

Materials/methods

We conducted a single institutional retrospective study of all patients with PHL diagnosed from 2000-2021, defined as a biopsy-proven liver lesion in the absence of other lymphomatous solid organ involvement, except for concurrently diagnosed hepatosplenic lymphomas. Subgroup analysis was performed for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and indolent lymphomas, which included marginal zone lymphoma (MZL), Grade 1-2 follicular lymphoma (FL), and low-grade B-cell lymphoma (BCL), NOS. Univariable (UVA) and multivariable analysis (MVA) for overall survival (OS) were performed using the Cox proportional hazards model. A literature review was conducted using key words "liver", "lymphoma", and "treatment" to identify relevant literature.

Results

We identified 30 patients with PHL within the institutional cohort and 192 patients from comprehensive literature review. Subgroup analysis of DLBCL included 15 patients. On MVA for OS, only ECOG score (p=0.02) and Lugano stage (p=0.04) remained significant. Subgroup analysis of the indolent lymphoma group included 9 patients. On MVA for OS, only age remained significant. Systemic therapy was the most common treatment modality overall (20 patients; 67%) with surgery, radiation and observation utilized in 4 patients (13%) each. Seventeen (57%) of patients were alive at the time of data collection, with 8 (27%) deceased and 5 (17%) lost to follow-up.

Conclusion

PHL are an extremely rare subtype of NHL for which there is no clear treatment consensus. Primary hepatic DLBCL appears to be treated mostly with chemotherapy with good disease control. For indolent PHL, low-dose RT appears to have good overall disease control with minimal toxicity. Our RT data is limited by the short duration of follow-up for patients receiving RT compared to those who received chemotherapy, surgery or observation. However, our results are encouraging for the use of RT for appropriate patients with indolent PHL.

Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma in a Kidney Transplant Patient: A Case Report

Post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorders are a possible complication of kidney transplant due to chronic immunosuppressive therapy, and they can elevate the mortality rate. Furthermore, the type of clinical appearance has a wide range. We describe a case of a 38-year-old male recipient who developed post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorders and received successful treatment. The recipient had received a kidney with 1 HLA-B and 1 HLA-DR match, and the deceased donor allotransplant was performed successfully on December 9, 2012. The cause of kidney failure was membranoproliferative-glomerulonephritis proved by biopsy results. The induction therapy was antithymocyte globulin; the basic immunosuppressive therapy consisted of tacrolimus, steroid, and mycophenolate mofetil. After 2 months the patient had elevated serum creatinine level, and biopsy results revealed cellular rejection (Banff grade I). We applied steroid bolus therapy. After that the graft worked properly for 5 years, and the patient had no symptoms or complaints; then he had right lower abdomen pain. After urgent procedures (laboratory diagnostics, abdominal ultrasonography, computed tomography), we operated on the patient in a short time, and after a few weeks the fluorescence in situ hybridization confirmed the translocation of region C-myc; the diagnosis was diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. With the assistance of hematologists, the patient received adequate therapy. He was asymptomatic half a year after the rituximab with cyclophosphamide, vincristine, doxorubicin, methotrexate/ifosfamide, etoposide, and high-dose cytarabine protocol therapy; the lymphoma is in remission. Our case is worth presenting because immunosuppressive drugs can modify the clinical picture, complicating the diagnosis and delaying treatment.

Primary Hepatic Burkitt Lymphoma in a Kidney Transplant Recipient

This is a case of a renal transplant recipient who developed a primary hepatic Burkitt lymphoma a few years after kidney transplantation. The past medical history of the patient was significant for anti-HCV positivity with liver histopathology showing minimal changes of grades 0 and 1, stage 0. She received a graft from a deceased donor, with rabbit antithymocyte globulin and methyl-prednisolone, as induction therapy, and was maintained on azathioprine, cyclosporine, and low dose methyl-prednisolone with normal renal function. Four years after KTx she presented with fatigue, hepatomegaly, and impaired liver function and the workup revealed multiple, variable-sized, low density nodules in the liver, due to diffuse monotonous infiltration of highly malignant non-Hodgkin lymphoma of B-cells, which turned out to be a Burkitt lymphoma. Bone marrow biopsy and spinal fluid exam were free of lymphoma cells. At time of lymphoma diagnosis she was shown to be positive for Epstein-Barr virus polymerase chain reaction. She received aggressive chemotherapy but died due to sepsis, as a result of toxicity of therapy.

Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma of the Liver: A US Population-based Analysis

Background and Aims: Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) of the liver is a rare lymphoid malignancy, accounting for less than 1% of extranodal lymphomas. Methods: I conducted an analysis of the U.S Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database to evaluate the histological subtypes and the survival outcomes of 785 cases with hepatic NHL between 1973 and 2012. Results: There were 785 of 312 459 cases with NHL had a first primary hepatic NHL (0.25%). Of the total 785 cases, the median age at diagnosis was 61 years (range 3-95 years) and male-female ratio of 1.7:1. The most common subtype was diffuse large B cell lymphoma (63.2%). In all patients, the median overall survival (OS) was 33 months (95%CI, 22-48 months). The 5-year OS rate for indolent B-cell NHLs was 62%, compared with 44% for an aggressive B-cell NHLs and 42% for T-cell NHLs. The median OS improved from 19 months in patients diagnosed in a period 1996-2000 to 60 months when diagnosed between 2006 and 2012 (p < .001). In a multivariable Cox regression analysis, the age ≥80 years (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] 3.21, p < .001), male gender (aHR 1.26, p = .02), Black race (aHR, 1.70, p < .001), and T-cell NHL variants (aHR 1.73, p = .03) were unfavourable prognostic factors. Conclusion: NHL of the liver comprises about 0.3% of all NHLs and survival was improved in the recent calendar period.

Primary Hepatic Burkitt Lymphoma: A Bizarre Site and Triumph Tale

Primary hepatic Burkitt lymphoma (PHBL) is an extremely rare form extra nodal lymphoma and till now only 11 case reports have been found in the literature. We are reporting an adult female with primary hepatic Burkitt's lymphoma, who achieved complete remission after 5 months of combination chemotherapy containing vincristine, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, methotrexate, prednisolone and intrathecal chemotherapy. She is under regular follow up at our institute.

Primary hepatic circumscribed Burkitt's lymphoma that developed after acute hepatitis B: report of a case with a review of the literature

A Japanese man aged 30 years old contracted acute hepatitis B in October 2011, and was cured following conservative treatment. Mild hepatosplenomegaly was the only positive finding on computed tomography (CT) and ultrasonography at that time. In May 2012, slight impairment of the liver function was detected again in the patient; an abdominal CT at this time revealed a tumor mass in the right hepatic lobe, so subsegmentectomy of the right hepatic lobe was performed. On the basis of the findings of the resected specimen, primary hepatic circumscribed Burkitt's lymphoma (sporadic form), stage IA, was diagnosed. Multiple cycles of hyper-CVAD/MTX-Ara-C therapy with concomitant rituximab were administered, under which the patient was successfully maintained in complete remission. To date, at least 15 cases of primary hepatic Burkitt's lymphoma have been reported in the literature; all of the 11 patients without concurrent human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection had the sporadic form of the disease. Asians were relatively common (7 patients) among these patients, and patients in their childhood or adolescence accounted for a considerable proportion. Therefore, the present case may be regarded as rather typical. The presence of hepatitis virus infection as a background disorder other than HIV is considered to be of profound interest etiologically.

Primary hepatic lymphoma: dilemmas in diagnostic approach and therapeutic management

Primary hepatic lymphoma (PHL) is a very rare malignancy and is characterized by liver involvement at presentation with no affectation of the spleen, lymph nodes, peripheral blood, bone marrow, or other tissues until at least 6 months after diagnosis. PHL should be considered in the differential diagnosis in a patient with space-occupying liver lesions and normal levels of alpha-fetoprotein and CEA. A computed tomography (CT) scan is the commonly used modality for staging lymphomas. The widespread use of positron emission tomography/CT results in the improvement in the accuracy of detecting the extent of disease, response evaluation, and prognostication. The liver biopsy, due to its pleomorphic appearances in the needle biopsy specimen, can be very challenging. Current literature favors the combination of chemotherapy as the frontline treatment for its least invasiveness and improved survival. Favorable prognosis of PHL can be obtained by early surgery combined with chemotherapy in strictly selected patients. However, the optimal therapy is still unclear and the outcomes are uncertain.