The great majority of new growths originating from the tonsils are malignant. There are comparatively few benign tumors of the tonsils; some types of these are so rare that each case is of great interest and worthy of being recorded. Fibromas and papillomas are the commonest types of benign tonsillar tumors; but besides these, lipomas, myxomas and cysts occasionally are encountered. Pure lymphoid neoplasms of the tonsils are among the rarest varieties of tonsillar growths; as far as we have been able to find, only a small number of cases of such tumors have been reported in the literature. We have been fortunate enough to obtain specimens in four cases of this kind, the histories of which are not available to us but the pathologic reports of which are appended.
The general literature on the subject of lymphoid tissues of the tonsils is limited.
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