Marginal Zone Lymphoma, A Rare Variant Of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma: A Case Report

Marginal zone lymphomas are low-grade non-Hodgkin lymphomas originating from post-germinal center B cells. The disease is subdivided into extra-nodal, nodal, and splenic marginal zone lymphomas. The features, clinical course, and treatment of the disease vary considerably depending on the location of involvement. Here, we present a case of a patient who underwent surgery for a mass causing compression in the spinal cord and was diagnosed with marginal zone lymphoma. A patient presented to the neurosurgery clinic with complaints of back pain and a mass was detected on lumbar magnetic resonance imaging at the lumbar level that significantly narrowed the spinal cord. Excisional pathology of the mass was consistent with lymphoid follicle structures with prominent germinal centers and expanding marginal zones, and immunophenotyping was performed. The present case is a case of advanced-stage marginal zone lymphoma with extra-nodular involvement. Marginal zone lymphomas usually tend to involve areas with high antigenic stimulation such as the skin, ocular adnexa, and salivary glands, but in our case, the site of involvement was the spinal cord and has been rarely reported in the literature.