Clinicopathologic features and treatment outcome of mature T-cell and natural killer-cell lymphomas diagnosed according to the World Health Organization classification scheme: a single center experience of 10 years.
BACKGROUND
Data on mature T-cell and natural killer (NK)-cell lymphomas diagnosed with the World Health Organization (WHO) classification scheme are scarce. They are regarded to be more common in Asian populations.


METHODS
Consecutive T-cell and NK-cell lymphomas classified according to the WHO scheme within 10 years in a Chinese population were reviewed.


RESULTS
There were 148 cases, constituting 16.6% (T-cell, n=90, 10.1%, NK-cell, n=58, 6.5%) of all non-Hodgkin lymphomas in this period. There was a male predominance (male:female = 2.5), young age at diagnosis (median age 50 years, range 8-86) and frequent extranodal presentation. Commonest T-cell lymphomas included anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL, n=25, median age 35 years, nodal 60%, stage I/II 60%), peripheral T-cell lymphoma, unspecified (PTCL, n=24, median age 54 years, nodal 42%, stage I/II 42%), and angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (AILT, n=19, median age 67 years, nodal 95%, stage I/II 26%). Overall frequencies of T-cell lymphomas were comparable to Western patients. AILT, PTCL and ALCL were aggressive with a poor outcome. NK-cell lymphomas were predominantly extranodal (96%) and aggressive, with a frequency much higher than Western patients.


CONCLUSIONS
The apparent high prevalence of T-cell and NK-cell lymphomas in the Chinese was due to more frequent NK-cell but not T-cell lymphomas.
Au
W-Y
WY
University Department of Medicine, Queen Mary Hospital, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong, ROC.
Ma
S-Y
SY
Chim
C-S
CS
Choy
C
C
Loong
F
F
Lie
A K W
AK
Lam
C C K
CC
Leung
A Y H
AY
Tse
E
E
Yau
C-C
CC
Liang
R
R
Kwong
Y-L
YL
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D002681:China; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural; D016399:Lymphoma, T-Cell / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012737:Sex Factors; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome