Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma of the Left Upper Extremity Mimicking a Sarcoma

Raheel S Siddiqui; Debra Ferman; Sandeep Tuli; M Margaret Kemeny

doi:10.7759/cureus.15588

Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma of the Left Upper Extremity Mimicking a Sarcoma

Cureus. 2021 Jun 11;13(6):e15588. doi: 10.7759/cureus.15588. eCollection 2021 Jun.

Authors

Raheel S Siddiqui¹, Debra Ferman², Sandeep Tuli³, M Margaret Kemeny⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Internal Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York City Health and Hospitals/Queens, Jamaica, USA.
² Department of Oncology, Queens Cancer Center, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York City Health and Hospitals/Queens, Jamaica, USA.
³ Department of Radiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York City Health and Hospitals/Queens, Jamaica, USA.
⁴ Department of Surgical Oncology, Queens Cancer Center, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York City Health and Hospitals/Queens, Jamaica, USA.

Abstract

Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) can arise in both lymph nodes and extranodal sites. DLBCLs rarely present in the soft tissue of the upper extremity. We report a case of a 64-year-old woman who presented with a large left upper arm mass and underwent surgical resection under the presumptive diagnosis of sarcoma but the final pathology showed DLBCL. Sarcomas are common malignant tumors of the soft tissue of the extremities, but lymphomas also occasionally present as a soft tissue mass. It is important to keep lymphomas in mind in order to avoid unnecessary surgical excisions.

Keywords: diffuse large b cell lymphoma; sarcoma; small blue cell neoplasm; soft tissue lymphoma; upper extremity lymphoma.

Publication types

Case Reports