Non-Hodgkin's Anaplastic Large T-Cell Lymphoma: A Case Report

TL;DR

This paper reports a rare case of aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in a young man, highlighting its clinical features, diagnosis, and successful treatment.

Contribution

The paper contributes a detailed case report of a rare lymphoma subtype to raise clinical awareness and discuss diagnostic and treatment approaches.

Findings

A 32-year-old male presented with severe symptoms and was diagnosed with ALCL through bone marrow biopsy.

Immunohistochemical analysis confirmed ALCL with specific antibody markers like CD30 and ALK-1.

The patient responded well to chemotherapy, achieving complete remission.

Abstract

Anaplastic large T/null cell lymphoma (ALCL) is an aggressive non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) that most commonly affects young men. Herein, we present a case of a 32-year-old male patient in severe condition with ulcerated right axillary adenopathy, diffuse subcutaneous nodules, and sepsis. He was admitted to the ED, where a bone marrow aspirate and biopsy confirmed the diagnosis of ALCL. The immunohistochemical examination demonstrated neoplastic cells with immunopositivity with antibodies CD3 (focal), CD30 (diffuse), protein ALK-1 (diffuse), and epithelial membrane antigen (EMA) (multifocal). Appropriate chemotherapy treatment was done, and the patient showed a complete response. This article aims to report a rare subtype of NHL to increase awareness and bring up a discussion about the clinical presentation and diagnostic features of ALCL. Moreover, we discuss treatment regimens that are currently used and have shown reasonable disease remission rates.

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