Comparative analysis of upper aerodigestive tract and non-upper aerodigestive tract in NK/T-cell lymphoma

Nasal or extranasal natural killer/T-cell lymphoma (NKTCL) is a very rare aggressive lymphoma, but it is increasingly diagnosed. To evaluate some specificity by comparative analysis between primary upper aerodigestive tract (UAT) and non-upper aerodigestive tract (NUAT)NKTCL.

A retrospective analysis was performed on NKTCL patients from January 2013 to November 2022 in our cancer center.

The majority of the lesions were UAT-NKTCL 70 cases (92.1%), the primary NUAT occurred in 6 cases. Patients in the UAT group were mainly in the early stage and in the low and medium risk, while those in the NUAT group were late stage and in high risk (p = 0.000). The expressions of CD3 and TIA-1 in UAT group were higher than those in NUAT group (p = 0.031, p = 0.003), while CD7 was dominant in NUAT group (p = 0.009). For early stage NKTCL, multivariate analysis suggested that gender and PINK score were independent factors affecting PFS and OS (p < 0.05). The 3 year OS rate in initial CR group was 90.1% versus 46.4% in non-CR group (p = 0.000). In advanced stage, KI67% and bone marrow involvement were independent factors affecting OS (p = 0.022, p = 0.038).

It was difficult to distinguish between UAT and NUAT-NKTCL from histopathology. NUAT-NKTCL patients did have advanced stage and poor outcome. The prognostic value of PINK score and bone marrow involvement was proposed. We aimed to improve initial CR rates, as well as to find new predictive models to predict the whole population.