Tonsillar Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma of Non-Germinal Center Type With Cluster of Differentiation 5 Positive in a Pediatric Girl

Abstract

Lymphoma is a common malignancy in children. It is the second most common malignancy in children older than 1 year of age. Most extranodal non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) in the head and neck is usually caused by diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), but pediatric DLBCL with cluster of differentiation (CD)5 expression is rarely discussed in the literature. An 8-year-old Saudi female presented with painful swallowing for a year. She underwent tonsillectomy. Histopathology and immunohistochemistry studies show stage II NHL as DLBCL in the left tonsil, non-germinal center B-cell (non-GCB) with aberrant CD5 expression. She completed all cycles of chemotherapy. She experienced febrile neutropenia after the first cycle but did not have any other complications. Current chemotherapy has an excellent prognosis, but the treatment approach depends on the disease stage risk classification. We emphasized that malignancy is not excluded by the absence of constitutional symptoms.

J Med Cases. 2024;15(11):324-329
doi: https://doi.org/10.14740/jmc4288