Reticular and Myxoid Non-keratinizing Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma: An Unusual Case Mimicking a Salivary Gland Carcinoma

Reticular and Myxoid Non-keratinizing Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma: An Unusual Case Mimicking a Salivary Gland Carcinoma

We present a case of non-keratinizing carcinoma of the nasopharynx (NK-NPC) with an unusual histopathological pattern. The neoplastic cells were arranged in anastomosing cords embedded in a stroma which contained a significant component of alcian blue-positive myxoid substance forming a reticular pa...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Head & neck pathology (Totowa, N.J.) N.J.), 2014, Vol.8 (3), p.364-368
Main Authors: Petersson, Fredrik, Vijayadwaja, Desai, Loh, Kwok Seng, Tan, Kong-Bing
Format: Article
Language:eng
Subjects:
Biomarkers, Tumor - analysis
Carcinoma
Case Report
Dentistry
Diagnosis, Differential
Female
Humans
Immunohistochemistry
In Situ Hybridization
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Middle Aged
Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma
Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms - diagnosis
Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
Otorhinolaryngology
Pathology
Salivary Gland Neoplasms - diagnosis
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Summary:We present a case of non-keratinizing carcinoma of the nasopharynx (NK-NPC) with an unusual histopathological pattern. The neoplastic cells were arranged in anastomosing cords embedded in a stroma which contained a significant component of alcian blue-positive myxoid substance forming a reticular pattern. These histopathological features gave an initial impression of a salivary gland-type carcinoma. On immunohistochemistry the tumor cells were strongly and diffusely positive for cytokeratins (AE1-3 and 5/6) and p63 and there was strong and diffuse nuclear positivity for Epstein–Barr virus-encoded small RNA on in situ hybridization. This case highlights the histomorphological variability of NK-NPC. Awareness of the histological spectrum of NK-NPC is important in clinical practice and this is not always adequately highlighted in currently used standard textbooks of Head and Neck Pathology.
ISSN:1936-055X
1936-0568