18F-Fluoro-2-deoxy-glucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (18F-FDG PET/CT) is widely used in staging, restaging, and evaluation of treatment response in patients with lymphoma. In this case report, a 59-year-old woman diagnosed with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) with gallbladder involvement is presented. Immunohistochemical analysis showed strongly positive CD79a, bcl-6, MUM1, bcl-2, and CD43; weakly positive CD20 and CD5 staining; negative c-myc; and Ki-67 of 85%. Interim 18F-FDG PET/CT showed involvement of multiple lymph nodes with high radiopharmaceutical uptake in supra- and infradiaphragmatic lymphatic stations (Figure 1). On the other hand, increased 18F-FDG uptake was observed in newly developed metastatic nodes in addition to previous lesions in the supra/infradiaphragmatic regions on posttreatment PET/CT. Additionally, focal 18F-FDG uptake (dashed arrows) in the upper outer quadrant of the right breast and unexpected gallbladder (GB) wall involvement (arrows) were observed (Figure 2).
Figure 1.

Involvement of multiple lymph nodes with high radiopharmaceutical uptake in supra- and infradiaphragmatic lymphatic stations.
CT: Computed tomography, PET: positron emission tomography, F: fusion, MIP: maximum intensity projection.
Figure 2.

Increased 18F-FDG uptake was observed in newly developed metastatic nodes in addition to previous lesions in the supra/infradiaphragmatic regions on posttreatment PET/CT. Additionally, focal 18F-FDG uptake (dashed arrows) in the upper outer quadrant of the right breast and unexpected gallbladder (GB) wall involvement (arrows) were observed.
CT: Computed tomography, PET: positron emission tomography, F: fusion, MIP: maximum intensity projection.
18F-FDG PET/CT is a diagnostic method for detecting metastatic lesions in GB [1,2,3].Although the involvement of the breasts and thyroid in non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma is frequently reported, involvement of the GB is extremely rare [4,5,6]. Al-Katib et al. [7] detected extranodal involvement of the GB in an 83-year-old male with intravascular large B-cell lymphoma. Bai et al. [8] reported increased 18F-FDG uptake in the GB without luminal pathology in a 15-year-old girl with Hodgkin’s disease.In our case, 18F-FDG PET/CT imaging revealed DLBCL-related involvement in the GB. PET/CT is a useful tool for demonstrating unexpected organ involvements, such as in the GB.
Footnotes
Ethics
Informed Consent: The patient provided verbal and written consent for the use of the medical findings for research purposes.
Authorship Contributions
Surgical and Medical Practices: T.A.; Concept: E.A., T.F.Ç., Design: E.A.; Data Collection or Processing: G.A.; Analysis or Interpretation: T.A., T.F.Ç.; Literature Search: G.A.; Writing: E.A.
Conflict of Interest: No conflict of interest was declared by the authors.
Financial Disclosure: The authors declared that this study received no financial support.
References
- 1.Chung PH, Srinivasan R, Linehan WM, Pinto PA, Bratslavsky G. Renal cell carcinoma with metastases to the gallbladder: four cases from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and review of the literature. Urol Oncol. 2012;30:476–481. doi: 10.1016/j.urolonc.2010.04.010. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 2.Shaikh F, Awan O, Khan SA. 18F-FDG PET/CT imaging of gallbladder adenocarcinoma-a pictorial review. Cureus. 2015;7:e298. doi: 10.7759/cureus.298. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 3.Kursat O, Engin A, Nuri A, Seref K, Erkan O. Watch out for the unexpected: sole gallbladder metastasis in a patient with malignant melanoma striked by FDG-PET. J Nucl Med Radiat Ther. 2015;6:2. [Google Scholar]
- 4.Dravid NV, Ningurkar NU, Nikumbh DB, Gadre AS. Extranodal primary non hodgkin lymphoma of breast: multimodal approach to diagnosis. Indian J Pathol Oncol. 2018;5:349–351. [Google Scholar]
- 5.Binesh F, Akhavan A, Navabii H. Extranodal marginal zone B cell lymphoma of MALT type with extensive plasma cell differentiation in a man with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. BMJ Case Rep. 2011;2011:bcr0520114277. doi: 10.1136/bcr.05.2011.4277. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 6.Pezzuto R, Di Mauro D, Bonomo L, Patel A, Ricciardi E, Attanasio A, Manzelli A. An unusual case of primary extranodal lymphoma of the gallbladder. Hematol Rep. 2017;9:6972. doi: 10.4081/hr.2017.6972. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 7.Al-Katib S, Colvin R, Sokhandon F. Intravascular large B-cell lymphoma presenting with diffuse gallbladder wall thickening: a case report and literature review. Case Rep Radiol. 2018;2018:2494207. doi: 10.1155/2018/2494207. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 8.Bai X, Wang X, Zhuang H. FDG accumulation in the lumen of the gallbladder without related pathology. Clin Nucl Med. 2018;43:383–385. doi: 10.1097/RLU.0000000000002044. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
