SINONASAL MALIGNANT-LYMPHOMA OF NATURAL-KILLER-CELL PHENOTYPE ASSOCIATED WITH DIFFUSE PANCREATIC INVOLVEMENT

We report a case of sinonasal lymphoma with a natural killer (NK) phen otype. This 40-year-old man was admitted to our hospital because of le ft nasal obstruction. Physical examination and computed tomography of the skull revealed a tumor in the left nasal cavity and maxillary sinu s. Histopathological examination revealed a diffuse proliferation of p leomorphic lymphoid cells. Imprint cytology showed that tumor cells co ntained some azurophilic granules, and expressed CD2, CD8, CD16, CD56 and HLA-DR antigens with little expression of other lymphoid or myeloi d markers. Southern blot analysis revealed germline configuration for immunoglobulin heavy chain and T-cell receptor genes. These findings i ndicated that these cells were in fact NK cells. The patient's enlarge d pancreas was also involved by lymphoma and the pattern of involvemen t simulated that seen in primary pancreatic lymphoma. Ulcerative colit is (UC) was also present, a rare finding in this disorder.