Primary thyroid lymphoma

Abstract

Primary thyroid lymphoma is an uncommon thyroid malignancy. The treatment modalities significantly differ from other thyroid malignancies. Frequently it is accompanied by Hashimoto's thyroiditis, and it may be difficult to differentiate the two entities histologically. Patients typically present with suddenly growing mass in the thyroid gland. Discrimination between primary and secondary lymphoma is important due to variations in diagnostic tools, treatment modalities and prognosis. Surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy or combinations of these modalities may be applied in treatment. In this report, three cases with primary thyroid lymphoma in which three different treatment modalities have been applied are presented.