Reactive lymphoid hyperplasia of liver mimicking late ovarian cancer recurrence: case report and literature review

Reactive lymphoid hyperplasia (RLH) is a rare, benign, lymphocytic tumour-like lesion reported in various organs. It has been previously identified in 18 cases in the English-language literature, but only 5 of them were related to oncological disease. No previous cases have been described of RLH occurring in ovarian cancer patients. We describe a case of hepatic RLH which developed in a patient treated for ovarian cancer 11 years previously. Radiological features on computed tomography (CT) scan and PET–CT (positron emission tomography–computed tomography) were strongly suggestive of oncological disease, in contrast to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); the volume increment of the nodular lesion and the rise in carbohydrate antigen 125 corroborated the hypothesis of malignancy. The patient was subjected to resection of the 7th segment of the liver and the final histological report showed RLH. RLH should be considered in the presence of hepatic lesions in suspected ovarian cancer recurrence. Imaging techniques should be thoroughly investigated to exclude tumor recurrence promptly, in order to avoid unnecessary surgery.