Primary breast B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma of the breast. Case Report and review of the literature

Objectives: To report a case of primary breast B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (PBL) and to conduct a literature review of its diagnosis and treatment.

Materials and methods: Case report of an 80-year-old female patient who presented to a private referral institution in Mexico, with PBL. She was also diagnosed with primary liver melanoma by means of targeted biopsy and pathology testing. The patient received treatment with R-CHOP (rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine and prednisone), quadrantectomy, lymph node dissection and radiotherapy. The PBL showed good response but, because of progression of the second primary tumor, the patient went on to receive palliative care. A review of the literature was conducted in Medline via PubMed, LILACS and Google Scholar. Cohort studies, case reports and case series in patients with PBL that discussed diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of this disease, published in English and Spanish between 2000 and 2022, were included.

Results: Overall, 23 titles were identified, of which 17 consisting of case reports and case series met the inclusion criteria. The majority of patients received R-CHOP as chemotherapy regimen, with irradiation as adjunct therapy. Close to 80 % went into complete remission. The most frequent site of recurrence was the central nervous system. Five-year survival was 83.6 % in the included studies.

Conclusions: At present, the CHOP regimen, with or without rituximab and usually accompanied by radiotherapy, is the most widely used and the only one that has shown a positive impact on survival. Additional randomized clinical trials are needed in order to gain a clearer insight into the effectiveness and safety of these treatments.