Malignant pulmonary lymphoid disease: Case reports illustrating anatomical pattern of disease as a prognostic marker

Although a well documented phenomenon in Hodgkin's disease, malignant pulmonary lymphoid disease in other lymphoproliferative diseases, such as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), is less frequently described. We present 3 patients, 2 with NHL and one with CLL, all demonstrating pulmonary malignant lymphoid involvement. We briefly review the probable mechanism underlying the development of this disease process and identify anatomical distribution of malignant pulmonary lymphoid disease as a prognostic marker in this condition.