Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of Waldeyer's ring and nasal cavity. Clinical and immunologic aspects

Abstract

Twenty-nine cases of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of Waldeyer's ring (W-NHL) and nasal cavity or paranasal sinus (N-NHL) were studied for tumor-surface marker phenotype and histopathologic correlation with clinical features. Immunostaining procedures on tissue sections by using xenoantisera and monoclonal antibodies to human B- and T-cells enabled the authors to demonstrate precise surface marker phenotypes of tumor cells and, moreover, the histologic localization of normal or neoplastic B- and T-cells in preserving the original structure of lymphoid organs or tumor tissues. In 22 cases of W-NHL, 19 (86%) had B-cell markers and 3 (14%) had T-cell markers, whereas 6 of 7 cases (86%) of N-NHL had T-cell markers. Tumor cells in T-cell lymphomas in W-NHL and N-NHL reacted with antibodies to peripheral T-cells except one case of W-NHL. Rappaport "histiocytic" subtype was heterogeneous with respect to both surface marker characteristics and morphologic features, i.e., seven had B-cell markers and four had T-cell markers, and they were all subdivided into "large cell" or "large cell, immunoblastic" in Working Formulation and "large cell" or "pleomorphic" in Lymphoma Study Group classification. The actuarial survival curve for all T-cell lymphoma patients was characterized by a rapid initial decline and a subsequent plateau, which contained two of the long survivors. In contrast, the B-cell lymphoma group had a more graded decline. The median and actuarial survivals of the T-cell lymphoma group were far inferior to those for the lymphoma group that expressed B-cell markers.