Article Details

Castleman disease, also known as giant angiofollicular lymphoid hyperplasia, is a rare lymphoproliferative disorder of unknown etiology and pathogenesis. Two different histological types can be described, the hyaline vascular type and the plasma cell type. This ? disease can affect any lymphoid tissue in the body and present with localized (unicentric) or systemic (multicentric) symptoms. The unicentric disease usually presents as lymphadenopathy and typically has a benign course. On the contrary, multicentric disease has a worse prognosis and is characterized by systemic inflammatory symptom, including fever, anemia, weight loss, and hypergammaglobulinemia. Only six cases of breast localization have been described in medical literature. An axillary location has been reported in only 2% of cases. The differential diagnosis of an axillary mass in a woman includes metastases, lymphoid neoplasms and a number of reactive, inflammatory, and benign conditions.