What is the prevalence of tumor-associated tissue eosinophilia in primary and metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma?
Tumor-associated tissue eosinophilia is a frequent pathologic finding in nasopharyngeal carcinoma, particularly in nonkeratinizing types and lymph node metastases, which may be of diagnostic importance.
A study of biopsy specimens from 422 consecutive primary nasopharyngeal carcinomas (NPCs) revealed tumor-associated tissue eosinophilia (TATE) in a large proportion (26%) of the tumors. TATE occurred more frequently in nonkeratinizing carcinomas (NKC, 38%) than in the squamous (21%) or undifferentiated (23%) types. There was no sex predilection and no association with the presence of intratumor amyloid deposits. Stromal eosinophilia was also observed in 53 (38%) of 138 metastatic NPCs in lymph nodes, where it had occasionally led to confusion with Hodgkin's disease. TATE may be a feature of diagnostic importance in NPC, although its prognostic significance remains to be ascertained.
Lai‐Meng Looi (Sun,) studied this question.