Primary low-grade B-cell lymphoma of the dura: a mucosa associated lymphoid tissue-type lymphoma.

The clinicopathologic findings in five patients with primary low-grade B-cell lymphoma of the intracranial dura are described. All patients were women, 40-62 years of age, who presented with focal neurologic symptoms. Radiologic studies showed a well-localized dural mass in each case, raising a preoperative diagnosis of meningioma. Cytologically these were composed of a diffuse infiltrate of small lymphocytes with plasmacytoid differentiation, with a variable admixture of centrocytelike cells. Lambda light chain restriction was found in three cases, and kappa light chain in one. VJ polymerase chain reaction for immunoglobulin heavy-chain rearrangement was positive in three of four cases, including one case in which immunostaining results were equivocal. Staging procedures did not show involvement at any other site. Therapy consisted of radiation (n = 3), chemotherapy (n = 1), or both (n = 1), with excellent response. There was no evidence of recurrence or subsequent dissemination at follow-up of up to 63 months. Low-grade B-cell lymphomas arising in the intracranial dura are rare but appear to be similar to other low-grade B-cell lymphomas arising in extranodal sites in terms of clinical presentation as stage 1E disease, indolent behavior, and favorable response to treatment, suggesting that they may be part of the mucosa associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma spectrum. They appear to arise at dural sites where meningothelial cells are concentrated.