Natural killer (NK)-cell enteropathy (NKCE) and lymphomatoid gastropathy (LG) are closely related lymphoproliferative disorders (LPDs) composed of mature and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-negative NK-cells. Although these uncommon and indolent lymphoid proliferations mostly arise within the gastrointestinal (GI) tract as their designations implies, a few cases have been reported outside the GI tract. We hereby describe a unique case of lymph node infiltration by such EBV-negative NK-cell proliferation fortuitously found during routine examination of a gallbladder resected for biliary lithiasis. The histologic, phenotypic, and molecular features of this NK-cell proliferation, which were very similar if not identical to those previously reported in NKCE or LG, suggest that similar indolent EBV-negative NK-cell LPDs may also occasionally involve lymph nodes.
Chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL) is an indolent small B-cell neoplasm that may transform into a clinically aggressive disease, namely Richter syndrome, usually as diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Besides, CLL/SLL encompasses an increased risk of developing other secondary cancers, including a variety of T-cell lymphomas, often of the anaplastic largecell type or with a cytotoxic phenotype. Here, we report a small series of patients with composite lymphomas consisting of CLL/SLL and angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (AITL), a hitherto unrecognized association. The 3 patients (1 male/2 females, 68 to 83 y) presented with high-grade-type symptoms. One patient was clinically suspicious for Richter syndrome, in the others CLL/SLL and AITL were concomitant de novo diagnoses. CLL/SLL and AITL were admixed in the same lymph nodes (3/3 cases) and in the bone marrow (1/2 cases). In all cases, the AITL comprised prominent clear cells with a strong T follicular helper immunophenotype and similar mutations consisting of TET2 or DNMT3A alterations, IDH2 R172K/M, and RHOA G17V. The 3 patients received chemotherapy. One died of early AITL relapse. The other 2 remained in complete remission of AITL, 1 died with recurrent CLL, and 1 of acute myeloid leukemia. These observations expand the spectrum of T-cell lymphoma entities that occur in association with CLL/SLL, adding AITL to the rare variants of aggressive neoplasms manifesting as Richter syndrome. Given that disturbances of T-cell homeostasis in CLL/SLL affect not only cytotoxic but also helper T-cell subsets, these may contribute to the emergence of neoplasms of T follicular helper derivation.
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