ANAPLASTIC LARGE-CELL LYMPHOMA OF MATERNAL ORIGIN INVOLVING THE PLACENTA - CASE-REPORT AND LITERATURE SURVEY

Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) occasionally involves the placenta, and i nformation of such occurrence should be useful for management of the m other and fetus. We report the first case of anaplastic large cell lym phoma (ALCL) disseminated to the placenta. The diagnosis was made via excisional biopsy of cervical lymphadenopathy in a 20-year-old woman a t 27 weeks' gestation. Involvement of the placenta was noted on gross examination after cesarean section delivery of a girl at 30 weeks' ges tation. The ALCL was microscopically confined to intervillous spaces i n a manner similar to previous reports of other NHLs. The immunophenot ype was characteristic (CD30(+), EMA(+), BNH9(+)), and the now frequen tly associated t(2;5)(p23;q35) translocation with this lymphoma was de tected by the recently produced monoclonal antibody ALK1 against the n ucleophosmin/anaplastic lymphoma kinase (NPM/ALK) chimeric protein. Co mplete remission was induced in the mother after delivery. Both mother and child are healthy at 10 years' follow-up. The case is reported in light of the sparse literature on lymphomatous involvement of the pla centa.