Malignant lymphoma of the testis: review of 17 cases in British Columbia with survival related to pathological subclassification.

We reviewed 17 patients in whom malignant lymphoma appeared to arise primarily in the testis without evidence of widespread dissemination. Malignant lymphoma of the testis occurring as part of a generalized disorder was not included. That the disease may be localized to the testis and can be cured (or long-term survival without evidence of dissemination) are supported by the results reported. The clinical features were reviewed and compared to those recorded in the literature. The 16 tumors in adults were all classified as diffuse histiocytic lymphoma. They were further classified as large cleaved cell, large non-cleaved cell and large non-cleaved cell (? immunoblastic) lymphoma. Survival was correlated with this classification and none of the patients with large cleaved cell tumors has died of malignancy. Prognosis also was related to clinical presentation and initial treatment. All surviving patients underwent orchiectomy and wide-field radiotherapy.