Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma involved in three endocrine glands: Breast, adrenalglands and testis

Background: The purpose of this report was to present an extreme and unusua l case of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma involving three endocrine organs (breast, adrenals, testis), and to review the literature concerning this malignancy. Case Report: A 52-year-old man with a 2-month history of breast and testis masses and 11.5 kg of weight loss was admitted to the hospital of Karadeni z Technical University. After biopsy of the breast a non-Hodgkin's lymphoma was diagnosed (diffuse large B-cell lymphoma according to REAL classificat ion). A computed tomographic (CT) scan of the abdomen confirmed the presenc e of large masses located in the upper poles of both kidneys. CT-guided fin e-needle aspiration biopsy revealed a similar histopathologic pattern in th e breast. The hormone analysis showed no abnormalities. Simple mastectomy a nd orchiectomy were performed, and chemotherapy (cyclophosphamide, vincrist ine, doxorubicin, and prednisolone) was administered. During the resting pe riod of chemotherapy, the patient died from progression of the disease. Con clusion: Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma can be located very rarely in the breast, t estis and adrenals. In this case we can not propose which organ system was primarily involved and which other organs were metastasized. Despite maxima l therapeutic and supportive measures, prognosis is poor.