Rearranged T-cell receptor gene and positive Epstein-Barr virus-encoded nuclear RNA in an extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma with cutaneous manifestation only: case study

Natural killer (NK)/cytotoxic T-cell lymphoma, a new type of cutaneous neoplasm, has been described recently in the World Health Organization/European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer classification for cutaneous lymphomas. We report an 11-year-old boy who had had erythematous plaques and blisters on his face and hands for 4 years and infiltrating plaques and necrosis on his extremities for 4 months. Routine clinical and laboratory examinations found no primary nasal involvement. Biopsies taken from nasal mucosa and skin showed that the tumour only involved dermis and subcutaneous tissue, and the infiltrated lymphohistiocytic tumour cells were CD56+, TIA+, CD45RO+ and CD30+. In situ hybridization for EBV-encoded nuclear RNA was positive. Clonal T-cell receptor-gamma2 gene rearrangement was positive. A diagnosis of extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma, nasal type, was made. This is a rare case, with slow course and survival for >51 months with the presentation only occurring in the skin.