A case of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma presenting as a large chest wall mass

Malignant lymphoma as a solitary chest wall mass is rare. Although surgical resection is the main treatment modality for malignant chest wall tumors, the treatment of primary chest wall lymphomas is controversial. A 65-year-old male patient with an enlarging mass on the left side of his chest wall, which had first appeared four months before, applied to our hospital. The patient was directed to our polyclinic with a diagnosis of l a rge B-cell lymphoma after the biopsy. Following the clinical investigation, stage IIEB extranodal non-Hodgkin's lymphoma was determined, and after a palliative radiotherapy, eight cycles of chemotherapy were planned. However, shortly after the completion of the sixth cycle of chemotherapy, poor performance status developed secondary to chemotherapy and the patient was diagnosed with pulmonary embolus. Following the stop of chemotherapy after six cycles, a complete clinical remission and a nearly complete radiologic remission were achieved. The patient is still under follow-up and was free of disease at four months.

Keywords: Thorax tumors; isolated mass; chemotherapy; non- Hodgkin's lymphoma