Follicular Dendritic Cell Sarcoma of Lymph Node: A report of a Patient with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Treated with Imatinib

Abstract

Follicular dendritic cells or dendritic reticulum cells are important components of the immune system essential for antigen presentation. Malignancies arising from these cells are uncommon and the first case was reported in 1986. The most common sites of follicular dendritic cell sarcomas are lymph nodes, especially cervical, axillary and mediastinal regions, but extranodal sites including head and neck and gastrointestinal tract may be affected in one-third of patients. Immunohistochemistry plays an important role in its diagnosis to differentiate it from morphologically similar malignancies The present report describes a case of follicular dendritic cell sarcoma in a patient with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) treated with imatininb mesylate for 6 years. This case deserves reporting due to rarity of the disease and hitherto unreported association with CML. Furthermore, the pathological diagnosis is challenging and requires a close-knit effort between the pathologist and haematologist.