Primary cerebral lymphoma. A histologic and immunohistochemical study of six cases.

Between 1981 and 1985, three male and three female patients (age range, 26 to 65 years) with primary central nervous system lymphoma underwent biopsy procedures and were treated in the Wessex Neurological Centre, Southampton, United Kingdom. The primary nature of the disease was confirmed by extensive clinical and radiologic investigation, and a combined approach of cytologic, histologic, and immunohistochemical studies contributed to the diagnosis and characterization of these tumors. By the Kiel classification, the lesions included five diffuse follicle center cell lymphomas and one T-cell lymphoma. Five of the lesions were present in the cerebral hemispheres, and three of these were multifocal. Only one patient presented with a lesion in the posterior fossa. Despite combinations of surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy, all patients died, the longest postoperative survival being two years.