Mantle Cell Lymphoma Presenting with Unusual Morphology in an Adolescent Female: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

We report the case of an 18-year-old female initially diagnosed with CD5-negative diffuse large B-cell lymphoma in an inguinal lymph node in 1999 who subsequently relapsed with classic-morphology mantle cell lymphoma with involvement of the bone marrow, gastrointestinal tract, and spleen in 2004. Both the 1999 and 2004 lesions were retrospectively positive for Cyclin D1 by immunohistochemistry and positive for t(11:14) (q13;q32) by fluorescence in situ hybridization, and both lesions had identical B-cell receptor gene rearrangements by polymerase chain reaction. This case of a CD5-negative large cell or pleomorphic blastoid variant of mantle cell lymphoma arising in an 18-year-old represents a very early incidence for this type of lymphoma, which is usually not seen in younger patients.