Ugly Cell: Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma in the Brain

A 69-year-old woman presented with a brain mass that was thought to be a primary brain tumor. Instead, our diagnosis turned out to be Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma, Anaplastic Type. This is not a lymphoma that is restricted to the central nervous system; but thus far in this patient the malignancy has only shown up in the brain. A representative photomicrograph from this case illustrates how ugly these tumor cells can be: