Anaplastic large cell lymphoma of maternal origin involving the placenta: case report and literature survey.

Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) occasionally involves the placenta, and information of such occurrence should be useful for management of the mother and fetus. We report the first case of anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) disseminated to the placenta. The diagnosis was made via excisional biopsy of cervical lymphadenopathy in a 20-year-old woman at 27 weeks' gestation. Involvement of the placenta was noted on gross examination after cesarean section delivery of a girl at 30 weeks' gestation. The ALCL was microscopically confined to intervillous spaces in a manner similar to previous reports of other NHLs. The immunophenotype was characteristic (CD30+, EMA+, BNH9+), and the now frequently associated t(2;5)(p23;q35) translocation with this lymphoma was detected by the recently produced monoclonal antibody ALK1 against the nucleophosmin/anaplastic lymphoma kinase (NPM/ALK) chimeric protein. Complete remission was induced in the mother after delivery. Both mother and child are healthy at 10 years' follow-up. The case is reported in light of the sparse literature on lymphomatous involvement of the placenta.