Distinct morphologic, phenotypic, and clinical-course characteristics of indolent peripheral T-cell lymphoma

Peripheral T-cell lymphoma, not otherwise specified (PTCL-NOS) consists of a heterogeneous group of lymphomas. Patients generally show an aggressive clinical course and very poor outcome. Although the 2008 World Health Organization classification of PTCL-NOS includes 3 variants, low-grade lymphoma is not included. Of 277 PTCL-NOS cases recorded in our consultation files, we examined the clinicopathologic characteristics of 10 patients with T-cell lymphomas composed of small-sized cells with slight nuclear atypia. Eight patients showed extranodal involvement (5 patients, spleen; 3 patients, thyroid), and 5 patients were at clinical stage I or II. Histologically, all samples presented diffuse infiltrate of small lymphoid cells, with few mitotic figures. Immunohistologically, all samples were positive for CD3, and CD20 was detected in 5 samples. All samples showed a low Ki-67 labeling index (mean, 1.05%), and 7 samples were positive for central memory T-cell markers. Clonal T-cell receptor γ chain and/or α-β chain gene rearrangements were detected in all 10 patients. Five patients received chemotherapy, whereas for 3 patients, treatment consisted only of observation following surgical resection of the spleen or thyroid. Nine patients were alive at a median follow-up time of 19.5 months, whereas 1 patient died of an unrelated disease. The present study strongly indicates that T-cell lymphoma with small-sized lymphoma cells and a low Ki-67 labeling index is a distinct variant. Recognition of this novel lymphoma subtype, which should not be defined merely as PTCL-NOS, should be seriously considered.