Intrahepatic high-grade malignant non-Hodgkin lymphoma in a patient with chronic hepatitis C infection

Z Gastroenterol. 1996 May;34(5):283-5.

Abstract

A 61-year-old white female with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection first diagnosed in 1994 was admitted with two newly discovered lesions in the liver suspected to represent hepatocellular carcinoma. The alpha-1-fetoprotein (AFP) level was within normal limits and there was neither clinical nor sonographic evidence of liver cirrhosis. Fine needle aspiration, however, showed an high-grade malignant centroblastic non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). Staging failed to confirm extrahepatic involvement. Both a cryoglobulinemia and HIV infection were ruled out. Although the coincidence of HCV infection and NHL is not well recognized, recent studies have indicated an increased incidence of NHL and hepatitis C in up to 38% of patients with cryoglobulinemia. In these patients, the diagnosis is always one of a low-grade lymphoma. Based on its lymphoproliferative characteristics, an etiologic role for HCV in the development of NHL has been discussed, though the exact pathogenesis remains unclear.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Biopsy
  • Cell Transformation, Neoplastic / pathology
  • Female
  • Hepatitis C / pathology*
  • Humans
  • Liver / pathology
  • Liver Neoplasms / pathology*
  • Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / pathology*
  • Middle Aged
  • Risk Factors