A Case Report of Tongue Lymphoepithelial Carcinoma with a Histological Diagnostic Dilemma
Daisuke Takeda,
Manabu Shigeoka,
Tenyu Sugano,
Nanae Yatagai,
Takumi Hasegawa,
Masaya Akashi
Affiliations
Daisuke Takeda
Division of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Department of Surgery Related, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-5-2 Kusunoki-cho, Chuo-ku, Kobe 650-0017, Japan
Manabu Shigeoka
Division of Pathology, Department of Pathology, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-5-1 Kusunoki-cho, Chuo-ku, Kobe 650-0017, Japan
Tenyu Sugano
Division of Diagnostic Pathology, Department of Pathology, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-5-2 Kusunoki-cho, Chuo-ku, Kobe 650-0017, Japan
Nanae Yatagai
Division of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Department of Surgery Related, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-5-2 Kusunoki-cho, Chuo-ku, Kobe 650-0017, Japan
Takumi Hasegawa
Division of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Department of Surgery Related, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-5-2 Kusunoki-cho, Chuo-ku, Kobe 650-0017, Japan
Masaya Akashi
Division of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Department of Surgery Related, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-5-2 Kusunoki-cho, Chuo-ku, Kobe 650-0017, Japan
Most head and neck lymphoepithelial carcinomas (LECs) arise in the nasopharynx and harbor Epstein–Barr virus (EBV). LEC is also a rare subtype of the oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). Morphologically, LEC is defined as resembling non-keratinizing nasopharyngeal carcinoma, undifferentiated subtype. The histological features and pathogenesis of oral LEC are not established. We describe a case of tongue LEC with histopathological diagnostic difficulties. A 72-year-old Japanese female presented with a whitish change on her left-side tongue. The diagnosis was atypical epithelium; neoplastic change could not be ruled out by a biopsy. Although the lesion was monitored at our hospital per her request, invasive carcinoma was detected 11 months later. Microscopically, conventional SCC was observed with the characteristic features as LEC confined to the deep part of the lesion. We briefly discuss this unusual histological finding and make a novel proposal for distinguishing oral LEC from LECs in other regions based on these histological findings.
