Natural killer/T-cell nasal-type lymphoma: unusual primary spinal tumor.

STUDY DESIGN: A natural killer/T-cell lymphoma originating in the spine of a 60-year-old man is first reported, along with a brief review of the literature on the topic.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the presentation and diagnosis of this disorder along with an emphasis on the importance of this type of rare tumor, needing early and accurate immunophenotypic profiling to make a right diagnosis.

SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Natural killer (NK)/T-cell lymphomas represent a rare type of lymphoma derived from either activated NK cell or rarely cytotoxic T cells. It usually originates in the nasal cavity/nasopharynx and invades the surrounding tissues, which is aggressive and, usually, a delay in diagnosis could result in a fatal outcome.

METHODS: A 60-year-old man presented with severe pain in his chest and back for 3 weeks and developed paralysis soon. After we got a negative result of lymphomatous from a bone marrow biopsy, we took a piecemeal excision of the 10th thoracic vertebra. Titanium mesh with bone cement filling-in and mass screw internal fixation system were used for reconstructing the stability of the spine. The histopathology was consistent with NK/T-cell lymphomas.

RESULT: The condition of the patient became worse suddenly after he regained some strength in his both lower limbs a week after the operation. He was not suitable for any aggressive chemotherapy or radiation therapy because of his poor condition and died 20 days later.

CONCLUSION: NK/T-cell lymphomas originated at other sites but nasal cavity/nasopharynx do not present typical clinical features and symptoms in the absence of lymphadenopathy. There are possibilities for misdiagnosis of NK/T-cell lymphoma that originates at other sites. The unfavorable prognosis of this tumor emphasized the need for novel molecular targets and more effective therapies.