Successful management of a non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of the gallbladder by chemotherapy: a case report

摘要

Introduction: Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of the gallbladder is a rare location of lymphoma. Case presentation: We report a case of T cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) of the gallbladder in a 39-year-old man in whom cholecystectomy made the diagnosis. Abdominal ultrasound did not reveal gallbladder stones. At this time, our patient had no lymph nodes. Histopathology of gastric and pulmonary biopsy and cholecystectomy made a definite diagnosis of non-Hodgkin's T cell lymphoma. Our patient had eight cycles of chemotherapy CHOP 21 (cyclophosphamide 750 mg/m2 intravenously (IV) on day 1, doxombicine 50 nig IV on day 1, vincristine 1.4 mg/m2 IV on day 1, and predni-sone 40 mg/m2 per day from day 1 to day 5 per os) with good response. He was free of disease 12 months after completion of chemotherapy. Gallbladder location of NHL is rare and has to be suspected every time when lymph nodes are associated, and we postulate that delays in making the diagnosis may lead to underdiagnosis of lymphoma of the gallbladder. Conclusion: Review of the literature shows the existence of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of the gallbladder, its rarity, and its general dismal prognosis. Our case illustrated that the prognosis could be improved by correct chemotherapy.