PRIMARY BURKITTS-LYMPHOMA OF THE LIVER - REPORT OF A CASE WITH LONG-TERM SURVIVAL AFTER SURGICAL RESECTION AND COMBINATION CHEMOTHERAPY

Purpose: A case of primary Burkitt's cell lymphoma of the liver is rep orted. Patient: A 14-year-old Chinese boy presented with a 10-day hist ory of postprandial epigastric pain and weight loss. Results: Preopera tive imaging studies revealed a large solid mass confined to the right lobe of the liver; there was no evidence of involvement of other site s. There was serological and immunohistochemical evidence of asymptoma tic hepatitis B virus infection. Complete removal of the mass was achi eved by right hepatic lobectomy. Histological examination revealed a s mall noncleaved cell lymphoma of Burkitt's type that immunostained pos itively for B-cell markers. The patient remains well, with no evidence of disease >8 years after surgical resection and combination chemothe rapy. Conclusions: Only five cases (two children and three adults) of primary small noncleaved cell lymphoma of the liver have been reported . We believe this is the second reported case of childhood hepatic lym phoma with long-term disease-free survival. Further work is needed to elucidate the relationship between hepatitis B virus infection and the development of a primary small noncleaved lymphoma of the liver.