Primary non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of the female genital tract

Genital tract lymphoma is a rare disease; information on diagnosis, treatme nt and outcome are limited. We report on eight patients affected by non-Hod gkin's lymphoma of the genital tract, five from the cervix, two from the va gina and one from the vulva collected between 1987 and 1998. Age at present ation ranged from 36 to 82 (median 67) years. The commonest initial symptom was vaginal bleeding, post coital in 1 patient. Three patients complained of vescical symptoms. Ann Arbor classification was stage IAE for 6 patients . Histology, according to the IWF, was either intermediate grade (4 patient s), or high grade (3 patients), not evaluable in one case. Seven patients w ere treated with chemotherapy (anthracycline based in four) followed by pel vic radiotherapy in five; one patient received irradiation alone. Five pati ents are currently alive and free of disease with follow-up ranging from 8 to 126 months. Based on our experience in this series, we support a managem ent scheme of combination chemotherapy and radiotherapy for patients with n on-Hodgkin's lymphoma of the genital tract.