Lymphoma presenting in the neck: current concepts in diagnosis

Lymphoma commonly presents as a painless enlarging lump in the neck. With the establishment of the neck lump one-stop clinic, patients can be assessed promptly. Historically an open node biopsy specimen was required for definitive diagnosis, but in the last few years, many clinicians have advocated use of image-guided core biopsies, and some specialist centres monitor patients with fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) combined with other diagnostic techniques such as flow cytometry. In this article, we present current published papers on the management of suspected lymphoma in a patient who presents with a neck mass. We discuss the role of FNAC, core biopsy, open node biopsy, and imaging in the diagnosis of lymphoma before the patient is referred to the oncologist.