CLINICO-PATHOLOGICAL EXAMINATION OF WALDEYER RING LYMPHOMAS

Introduction: Waldeyer's ring (WR) is the second most common site of extranodal lymphomas. Its clinical course may resemble those of nodal lymphomas. In this study, we evaluated the histopathological and clinical findings, the presence of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), and overall survival of WR lymphomas diagnosed in our department. Materials and Methods: Retrospectively, 32 patients diagnosed with WR lymphoma between 2017-2022 were included. The demographic, clinical data of the patients and lymphoma types according to the latest classification of the World Health Organization, the presence of EBV (EBV early RNAs (EBER) by chromogenic in-situ hybridization (ISH) method) were examined. Descriptive statistics, categorical data were evaluated as percentage and frequency. Kaplan-Meier analysis was used for survival rate. A P value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The majority of 32 cases in our study were male. The mean age was 57.97±16.15 years. The clinical prediagnosis was carcinoma in 46.9% of the cases. Tonsil and nasopharynx had equal proportions as lymphoma origin. Only 3 (9.4%) cases are classic hodgkin lymphoma (CHL). Others were NHL, of which 16 (50.0%) were diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). EBER was positive only in tonsillar CHL cases. The survival of patients with lymphoma of nasopharyngeal origin was shorter than those of tonsillar origin (p=0.037). Conclusion: WR lymphomas are most often confused with carcinomas clinically. DLBCL is the most common type of lymphoma. EBER has been detected only in CHL. Survival is lower in lymphomas originating from the nasopharynx. Keywords: Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, Nasopharynx, Tonsil, Hodgkin Lymphoma