Primary Gastrointestinal T/NK Cell Lymphoma

A Rare Case of Gastric Extranodal NK/T-Cell Lymphoma With Orbital Involvement

Gastric extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma (ENKTL) is a rare presentation of a rare disease. We report a 33-year-old woman presenting with epigastric pain, nausea, and vomiting. Endoscopic examination revealed gastric and duodenal ulceration. Biopsy of the ulcers revealed ENKTL. The patient began treatment, but developed hemorrhagic shock from her ulcers and died. Gastric ENKTL is a rare disease that presents with gastric ulceration. It has a high rate of mortality, and treatment is challenging because of its aggressive nature and lack of high-quality data to guide therapy.

Anaplastic Large-cell Lymphoma Involving Gastrointestinal Tract: A Clinicopathologic Study of 25 Cases of a Rare Tumor at a Rare Site

Background. Anaplastic large-cell lymphoma (ALCL) is an uncommon lymphoma divided into anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) positive, ALK negative, and breast implant-associated (BIA) ALCL. Gastrointestinal tract involvement is very rare and may be difficult to diagnose. Its recognition is crucial as prognostic ramifications are different. Objectives. To describe clinicopathological features of ALCL involving the gastrointestinal tract. Materials and Methods. Slides were reviewed. Diagnosis was confirmed. Histological and immunohistochemical features were described. Results.Twenty-five tumors were diagnosed during the study period. Ages ranged from 14 to 65 years (mean 41 years). Mean age for ALK-negative and ALK-positive patients were 49 and 17 years, respectively. Twenty-one were males and 4 were females. Eighteen involved small intestine. Mean tumor size was 4.2 cm. All showed diffuse sheets of large anaplastic cells with pleomorphic nuclei, abundant pink cytoplasm, and strong positivity for CD30. Epithelial membrane antigen was positive in 17 tumors and keratin was negative in all. Eighteen tumors were ALK negative. Out of 14 patients with follow-up, 12 died within a few months of diagnosis. Seven had stage IE, 5 had stage IIE, and 2 had stage IV disease. Two patients were alive at 35 and 60 months. Twelve received chemotherapy. Conclusion. A marked male predominance was noted. Small intestine was the commonest site of involvement. Majority were ALK negative. ALK-negative tumors occurred in older patients and ALK positive in younger patients. Prognosis was poor. ALCL should be included in the differential diagnosis of anaplastic epithelioid cell neoplasms in the gastrointestinal tract.

Clinical and Histopathological Features of an Italian Monocentric Series of Primary Small Bowel T-Cell Lymphomas

The gastrointestinal (GI) tract is the most common extranodal site of occurrence of non-Hodgkin lymphomas. Most GI lymphomas are of B-cell lineage, while T-cell lymphomas are less frequent. The aim of our retrospective study was to depict the clinical-pathological profile of a series of patients affected by intestinal T-cell lymphomas (ITCL) and possibly define hallmarks of these neoplasms. A total of 28 patients were included: 17 enteropathy-associated T-cell lymphomas (EATL), 5 monomorphic epitheliotropic T-cell lymphomas (MEITL), 3 indolent T-cell lymphoproliferative disorders of the gastrointestinal tract (ITCLDGT), and 3 intestinal T-cell lymphomas not otherwise specified (ITCL-NOS). Celiac disease (CD) was diagnosed in around 70% of cases. Diagnosis of EATL showed a significant correlation with CD30 expression, whereas MEITL with angiotropism and CD56 positivity. ITCLDGT cases showed plasma cells infiltration. Peripheral lymphocytosis, the absence of a previous diagnosis of CD, an advanced Lugano clinical stage, and the histological subtype ITCL-NOS were significantly associated with worse survival at multivariate analysis. Our findings about the epidemiological, clinical, and histopathological features of ITCL were in line with the current knowledge. Reliable prognostic tools for these neoplasms are still lacking but according to our results lymphocytosis, diagnosis of CD, Lugano clinical stage, and histological subtype should be considered for patient stratification.

Clinical, endoscopic and pathological characteristics of primary gastrointestinal T-cell and NK/T-cell lymphomas

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Gastrointestinal T-cell and NK/T-cell lymphomas are relatively rare and may be difficult to diagnose. Therefore, we performed a retrospective study of the clinical, endoscopic and pathological characteristics of these lymphomas, to provide additional data on this issue.

METHODS

From April 2013 to April 2021, consecutive patients diagnosed with primary gastrointestinal T-cell and NK/T-cell lymphomas were retrospectively reviewed. Their medical histories, laboratory, imaging, endoscopic, and pathology results were analyzed.

RESULTS

Forty-two patients were finally chosen, among whom, 24 patients had ENKTCL, 9 patients had MEITL, 2 patients had ALCL, ALK-, 1 patient had ALCL, ALK+, and 6 patients had PTCL, NOS. The median age of all the patients was 48 years old, and 73.81% (31 patients) were male. The patients' symptoms were abdominal pain, diarrhea, gastrointestinal bleeding, weight loss, fever, and others. The endoscopic results of 26 patients could be traced, and 69.23% of the patients showed multiple lesions. Ulcerative and ulceroinfiltrative lesions were common. Among the pathologic findings, necrosis, ulceration, and crypt atrophy were commonly found while epitheliotropism was relatively less common. Twelve patients (28.57%) had a history of misdiagnosis. After a median follow-up time of 26.9 months, 26 patients (66.70%) died of the disease. The median overall survival time was 8 months.

CONCLUSIONS

These lymphomas had nonspecific clinical manifestations, various endoscopic features, and were likely to be misdiagnosed as other diseases. The prognosis is still poor, and more in-depth research is needed to develop more precise treatments.

Primary Gastrointestinal T-Cell Lymphoma and Indolent Lymphoproliferative Disorders: Practical Diagnostic and Treatment Approaches

Simple Summary

It is challenging for pathologists to diagnose primary gastrointestinal T-cell neoplasms. Besides the rarity of the diseases, the small biopsy material makes it more difficult to differentiate between non-neoplastic inflammation and secondary involvement of extra gastrointestinal lymphoma. Since this group of diseases ranges from aggressive ones with a very poor prognosis to indolent ones that require caution to avoid overtreatment, the impact of the diagnosis on the patient is enormous. Although early treatment of aggressive lymphoma is essential, the treatment strategy is not well established, which is a problem for clinicians. This review provides a cross-sectional comparison of histological findings. Unlike previous reviews, we summarized up-to-date clinically relevant information including the treatment strategies as well as practical differential diagnosis based on thorough literature review.

Abstract

Primary gastrointestinal (GI) T-cell neoplasms are extremely rare heterogeneous disease entities with distinct clinicopathologic features. Given the different prognoses of various disease subtypes, clinicians and pathologists must be aware of the key characteristics of these neoplasms, despite their rarity. The two most common aggressive primary GI T-cell lymphomas are enteropathy-associated T-cell lymphoma and monomorphic epitheliotropic intestinal T-cell lymphoma. In addition, extranodal natural killer (NK)/T-cell lymphoma of the nasal type and anaplastic large cell lymphoma may also occur in the GI tract or involve it secondarily. In the revised 4th World Health Organization classification, indolent T-cell lymphoproliferative disorder of the GI tract has been incorporated as a provisional entity. In this review, we summarize up-to-date clinicopathological features of these disease entities, including the molecular characteristics of primary GI T-cell lymphomas and indolent lymphoproliferative disorders. We focus on the latest treatment approaches, which have not been summarized in existing reviews. Further, we provide a comprehensive review of available literature to address the following questions: How can pathologists discriminate subtypes with different clinical prognoses? How can primary GI neoplasms be distinguished from secondary involvement? How can these neoplasms be distinguished from non-specific inflammatory changes at an early stage?