Primary CNS lymphoma

Abstract

Primary CNS lymphoma (PCNSL) affects all age groups with a peak incidence in the fifth to seventh decades in non-AIDS patients. A slight male predominance is observed. The disease represents 2.6% of all primary brain tumors and 2-3% of NHLs [1, 53]. After a threefold rise observed between 1970 and 1990, the incidence of PCNSL has increased only slightly in the past 10 years in individuals above the age of 60, and now stands at 0.44/100,000 patient-years [1, 71]. With all forms of PCNSL, an occult systemic lymphoma is seldom found. Fewer than 10% of PCNSL patients present with brain and systemic lymphoma [85], and a similar percentage develop systemic disease after brain involvement. © 2010 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.