Nasal natural killer/T cell lymphoma with cutaneous involvement: case report and Chinese literature review reported in China mainland.

Nasal natural killer (NK)/T cell lymphoma is an Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) associated lymphoma that arises in the nasal area and aggressively invades surrounding tissues. Our patient was a 48-year-old male who had had nasal obstruction and nasal discharge for 2 years and infiltrating plaques and necrosis on his nasal dorsum for three months. He developed fever and fatigue two weeks before admission. Biopsy from both skin and nasal mucosa revealed atypical medium-sized tumor cells infiltrating into the dermis. Immunohistochemical studies revealed that the tumor cells were UCHL-1, cytoplasmic CD3, CD56, TIA-1, and granzyme B positive, and CD8 and CD20 negative. In situ hybridization for EBV-DNA was positive. Clonal TCRb and TCRg gene rearrangement were negative. The patient was treated with cyclophosphamide, vincristine, and prednisone (COP) and with local radiotherapy, but he died 20 days later. We reviewed the cases of nasal NK/T cell lymphoma reported in mainland China in the Chinese literature during the last 5 years.