[Anatomo-pathology and attempt at classification of epitheliomas of the nasopharynx]

Lympho-epithelioma is a tumor of the nasopharynx and tonsillar region. From the first description of Regaud and Schmincke in 1921, the concept of this tumor changed in some ways and, up to now, the characteristic of lympho-epithelioma varied according to observers, resulting in a very confusing situation : some of pathologists consider lympho-epithelioma as a subtype of squamous cell carcinoma, others, as a true entity to be preserved; this last opinion is based upon epidemiologic and clinico-radiologic features sufficiently distinctive to justify separation into a tumor entity. The author suggests in this paper a new classification of nasopharynx carcinomas and emphazises diagnosis difficulties of lympho-epithelioma.