NODAL PERIPHERAL T -CELL LYMPHOMA ASSOCIATED WITH WARTHIN'S TUMOR

Warthin’s tumour (cystadenoma ‘lymphomatosum’ papilliferum) of the salivary glands can also be observed in upper cervical lymph nodes. Both in the salivary glands (mainly the parotid gland) and in the neighbouring lymph nodes, Warthin’s tumour may be associated with different lymphoproliferative disorders, the most common being follicular lymphomas and Hodgkin’s lymphoma, that may develop from the reactive lymphoid component of this benign epithelial tumour. To the best of our knowledge no well-documented cases of association of Warthin’s tumour and T-cell lymphoma in the same site have been described so far. We report the case of a 66-year-old male patient who underwent a lymph node biopsy in January 2004 due to upper right cervical lymphadenopathy. The lymphnode biopsy discovered the presence of a Warthin’s tumour, mainly composed of cystic spaces with the typical bilayered oxyphilic epithelium. Our report indicates that the association of a T-cell lymphoma with a salivary gland-type Warthin’s tumour does exist, although extremely rare. This may be explained by the overall low incidence of T-cell lymphoproliferative diseases, and in particular of (nodal) peripheral T-cell lymphoma, NOS (<5% of all lymphoma cases). Thus, T-cell lymphomas have to be considered in the spectrum of lymphoproliferative disorders that may be associated with a Warthin’s tumour in the same site.