Cerebellar Large B-cell Lymphoma: A Case Report

Malik Ghannam; Shaden Mansour; Fareed Jumah; Brent Berry; Albertine Beard

J Med Case Reports. 2018;12(341)

Background

Primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) is a rare, malignant non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) that is confined to the central nervous system. Most cases are diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. PCNSL is an aggressive tumor that extensively invades the parenchyma but by definition remains confined within the central nervous system (stage IE).^[1,2] PCNSL is rare, accounting for only 2–6% of all primary brain neoplasms and 1–2% of all NHLs.^[2] However, in the last couple of decades, its incidence has been rising among the immunocompetent elderly population, but not in younger individuals. Survival remains poor, regardless of the patient's immune status.^[3]

PCNSL presents as a solitary lesion in 60–70% of patients, most commonly in the hemispheres (38%), thalami/basal ganglia (16%), corpus callosum (14%), periventricular regions (12%), and rarely in the cerebellum (9%).^[4] We present an unusual case of PCNSL presenting as multiple lesions in the cerebellum in an immunocompetent host.