Primary nasopharyngeal Hodgkin's disease: case report and literature review

INTRODUCTION: Primary Hodgkin's disease of the nasopharynx is a rare and uncommon event. It has a relatively favorable prognosis and represents less than 1% of all documented cases of Hodgkin's disease. CASE PRESENTATION: A 40-year-old Arabic man presented initially with bilateral nasal obstruction, which was then followed by a significant involvement of his bilateral cervical lymph nodes. His nasopharyngeal biopsy together with immunohistochemistry analysis showed negative expressions of CD15, CD20 and CD3, but positive expressions of CD30 and epithelial membrane antigen. This confirmed the diagnosis of nasopharyngeal Hodgkin's disease of a mixed cellularity subtype. The disease was at stage IIEA. Our patient received four cycles of chemotherapy, which yielded a 75% response. This was followed by irradiation of his Waldeyer's ring and supraclavicular lymph nodes. He remains in good local control after 30 months of follow-up. CONCLUSION: The literature review and our case report discuss the optimal management of this rare and atypical localization of Hodgkin's disease, which should be differentiated from lymphoproliferations associated with Epstein-Barr virus and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.