Rationale: Primary adrenal lymphoma (PAL) is an extremely rare and highly invasive malignant disease. Imaging examination usually shows bilateral adrenal involvement with large tumor masses and local infiltration. However, it is unclear how lymphoma dynamically develops into huge tumor masses in the adrenal glands. The overall survival rate of PAL is generally poor, and the underlying mechanism might be related to prooncogenic mutation but not fully elucidated.
Patient concerns: A 52-year-old woman complaining of a large mass in the left adrenal region for 1 month was admitted to our department.
Diagnosis: Computed tomography firstly showed a huge mass (8.9 × 7.5 cm) in the left adrenal gland and diffusely enlarged right adrenal gland. A month later, the mass in the left adrenal gland further enlarged (9.5x7.5 cm) with infiltration of the left renal artery and retroperitoneal lymphadenopathy, and the right adrenal gland rapidly progressed into a huge mass (8.0x4.7 cm). Additionally, her chest computed tomography revealed mediastinal and bilateral hilar lymphadenopathy. Then an adrenal biopsy confirmed the diagnosis of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, nongerminal center B-cell type, stage IV by Ann Arbor staging system. Immunohistochemistry showed positivity for Ki-67 (approximately 90%), BCL2 (approximately 80%) and MYC (approximately 70%) double-expressor lymphoma.
Interventions: The patient's condition progressed rapidly, there was no opportunity to use pathology-based chemotherapy. Dexamethasone was given intravenously by thoracic and intraperitoneal injection; antibiotics and supporting treatment were also given.
Outcomes: The patient's condition progressed rapidly, with the development of malignant chest and abdominal cavity fluid and lung infection, and eventually developed septic shock and respiratory failure. She responded poorly to treatment regimens, and eventually died 8 days after the diagnosis of PAL.
Lessons: PAL grows progressively throughout the adrenal glands, high Ki-67 positivity and BCL2/ MYC co-expression predict rapid progress and poor prognosis.