Primary mucosal CD30-positive T-cell lymphoproliferative disorders of the head and neck rarely involving epiglottis: clinicopathological, immunohistomchemical and genetic features of a case

A case of primary mucosal CD30-positive T-cell lymphoproliferative disorder of the head and neck rarely involving epiglottis in a 59-year-old male was reported. Histologically, the ulcerative mucosa was affected by sheets of mixed inflammatory infiltration, with scattered large atypical lymphoid cells arranging in an individual or small clusters with focal epidermotropism. Immunohistochemically, tumor cells were uniformly immunoreactive to antibodies against CD2, CD3, CD7, CD43, CD4, TIA-1, with a heterogeneous expression of CD30, but negative for CD20, CD79a, CD21, CD8, CD56, ALK, EMA, granzyme B. Epstein-Barr virus encoded RNA (EBER) were detected. Genetically, T-cell receptor (TCR) γ gene showed an oligoclonal rearrangement. This first case developing in epiglottis demonstrates mucosal CD30-positive T-cell lymphoproliferative disorders are characteristic of a broad clinicopathologic spectrum similar to the counterpart in the skin with a favorable prognosis.