J Breast Cancer.  2010 Sep;13(3):318-322.

Primary Peripheral T-cell Lymphoma of the Breast: Radiologic and Pathologic Findings

• Lim HJ
• Cho KR
• Kim I
• Hwang KW
• Seo BK
• Woo OH
• Oh YW
• Bae JW

Abstract

Primary breast lymphoma is a rare disease entity, particularly the T-cell type. There have been many case reports of primary breast lymphomas; however, these are mostly pathologic reports, with only a few reports in radiology literature. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the radiologic features of primary T-cell type breast lymphoma, including mammography, ultrasonography, MR imaging, and 18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography scan. The radiologic findings are rather unique for this T-cell lymphoma compared to B cell type.

Keyword

Breast neoplasms; Magnetic resonance imaging; Mammary ultrasonography; X-ray computed tomography

MeSH Terms

Breast
Breast Neoplasms
Electrons
Lymphoma
Lymphoma, T-Cell
Lymphoma, T-Cell, Peripheral
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Mammography
Rare Diseases
T-Lymphocytes
Tomography, X-Ray Computed
Ultrasonography, Mammary

Figure

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  Figure 1 Mammography shows an ill-defined, irregular shaped hyperdense mass (arrow) in the right upper outer quadrant, accompanied by slight thickening of the overlying skin and ipsilateral lymphadenopathy (arrowhead).

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  Figure 2 Ultrasonography shows an ill-defined hyperechoic lesion (arrow) with tubular shaped branching hypoechogenecities (arrowhead) without focal mass.

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  Figure 3 MRI demonstrates an ill-defined irregular mass showing very high signal intensity on T2 WI (A, arrow) and low signal intensity on T1 WI (B, arrow) in the upper outer quadrant of right breast. Early subtraction images (C, D) show a well-enhanced mass (C, arrow). An enhancing enlarged lymph node is visible in the right axilla (D, arrowhead), with well-delineated skin thickening. This shows a type III pattern time-signal intensity curve (early enhancement and delayed wash-out) on dynamic study (E).

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  Figure 4 F-18 FDG PET/CT reveals a moderate hypermetabolic lesion (arrow) and maximum standard uptake value (SUV) ranges from 3.3 to 3.8. A focal hypermetabolic lesion measuring 2.3 of maximum SUV is also visible at the right axilla (arrowhead).

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  Figure 5 Histopathologic examination shows diffuse dense infiltration of small and large lymphoid cells (A, ×200), composed of predominantly CD3-positive T-cells (B, ×200).

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