UNDIFFERENTIATED CARCINOMA OF THE NASOPHARYNX AND LEUKEMOID REACTION - REPORT OF CASE WITH LITERATURE-REVIEW

A case of undifferentiated carcinoma of the nasopharynx presenting as a cervical mass associated with a paraneoplastic neutrophilic leukemoi d reaction is reported. The diagnosis of undifferentiated nasopharynge al carcinoma of the Regaud type was established by the presence of agg regates of epithelial neoplastic cells separated by areas of reactive lymphoid cells; the epithelial nature being confirmed by the positivit y for epithelial markers (AE1/AE3, EMA). Serum IL-1 alpha, GM-CSF and TNF alpha remained undetectable suggesting that these factors were not involved in the occurrence of the paraneoplastic leukemoid syndrome.