T-cell and NK/T-cell lymphomas in southern Taiwan: a study of 72 cases in a single institute.
In an attempt to better understand the clinicopathologic features of T- and natural killer (NK)/T-cell lymphomas in Taiwan and the distribution and relative frequency of each subtype according to the new WHO classification, the pathology file of a medical center in southern Taiwan during 1989-2002 was retrospectively searched. The results of light microscopy, immunohistochemistry, in situ hybridization for Epstein-Barr virus (EBER), and T-cell receptor (TCR)-gamma chain gene rearrangement were correlated with clinical findings. A total of 72 cases were identified. They were peripheral T-cell lymphoma, unspecified (PTLu; n = 23, 31.9%), NK/T-cell lymphoma (n = 14, 19.4%), anaplastic large cell lymphoma (n = 13, 18.0%), angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (AITL; n = 9, 12.5%), precursor T-lymphoblastic lymphoma (n = 8, 11.1%), enteropathy-type intestinal T-cell lymphoma (n = 2, 2.8%), adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (n = 2, 2.8%), and subcutaneous panniculitis-like T-cell lymphoma (n = 1, 1.4%). The male to female ratio was 1.5:1. Forty patients (55.6%) had extranodal presentation. Eleven cases including 9 of 14 (64.3%) NK/T-cell lymphomas expressed CD56. All 14 NK/T-cell lymphomas are EBER-positive. Seven of nine (77.8%) AITLs expressed CD10. The overall 5-year survival rate was 10.2%. In conclusion, we have characterized a large series of T- and NK/T-cell lymphomas in southern Taiwan, where there is male predominance and poor prognosis. CD56 is a specific but not very sensitive marker while EBER is most reliable for the diagnosis of NK/T-cell lymphoma. CD10 is a useful marker to differentiate AITL from PTLu.
Department of Pathology, Chi-Mei Medical Center, Taiwan.
David
D
Lu
Ching-Nan
CN
Lin
Shih-Sung
SS
Chuang
Wei-Shou
WS
Hwang
Wen-Tsung
WT
Huang
D019002:CD56 Antigen / Q000032:analysis; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D015321:Gene Rearrangement; D019675:Genes, T-Cell Receptor gamma; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000145:classification / Q000473:pathology*; D016399:Lymphoma, T-Cell / Q000145:classification / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D015260:Neprilysin / Q000032:analysis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013624:Taiwan
D019002:CD56 Antigen; D015260:Neprilysin