Malignant lymphoma of the vagina successfully treated with rituximab, adryamicin, cyclophosphamide, vincristine sulfate, and prednisolone.

PURPOSE: Primary malignant lymphoma of the vagina is extremely rare. The most common histologic subtype is diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). We report a case of vaginal DLBCL successfully treated with chemotherapy consisting of rituximab, adryamicin, cyclophosphamide, vincristine sulfate, and prednisolone (R-CHOP), followed by pelvic irradiation.

CASE: A 44-year-old Japanese woman was admitted complaining of atypical genital bleeding and puruloid vaginal discharge. Gynecological examination showed an ulceration of the vaginal wall and a hard mass the size of a goose egg beneath the left vaginal wall, which had infiltrated to the left pelvic wall. The pathological diagnosis based on a punch biopsy taken from the vaginal tumor was non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Based on immunohistochemical study, the tumor was subclassified as activated B-cell type DLBCL. The patient was diagnosed with Ann Arbor Stage IEA DLBCL and Stage III vaginal cancer, according to the International Federation of Gynecologists and Obstetricians (FIGO) classification system. She was successfully treated by six courses of R-CHOP, followed by radiation therapy. The patient is well without evidence of disease 13 months following the initial treatment.

CONCLUSION

Little attention has been paid to the use of rituximab in addition to conventional chemotherapy and the importance of clinical and morphological subgrouping of DLBCL arising in the vagina. The present case indicates that the effects of rituximab on the prognosis of vaginal DLBCL must be evaluated, and that clinical use of immunophenotypic subgrouping should be considered for vaginal DLBCL.