Sub-clinical dissemination of follicular lymphoma in normal sized lymph nodes may not be detected by radiologic staging: a case of disseminated follicular lymphoma detected in nodal clearance as part of therapy for cutaneous melanoma

Abstract

Patients with localized follicular lymphoma are potentially curable; however, the failure rate for local treatment suggests that a proportion of apparently localized disease is being under-staged. We report a case of incidentally diagnosed follicular lymphoma found in association with a stage II malignant melanoma, with immunohistochemical evidence of disseminated lymphoma in radiologically and clinically benign regional lymph nodes. This case provides some evidence to the cause of treatment failure in patients with clinically localized follicular lymphoma, and is a histologically proven example of the association between melanoma and lymphoma.

Keywords:

• Staging
• occult
• melanoma
• treatment failure
• follicular lymphoma
• localized
• subclinical