نبذة مختصرة : Undifferentiated carcinoma of the nasopharynx (UCNT) has variable incidence throughout the world. Senegal is supposed to be a non-endemic zone. There is a constant connection with the Epstein-Barr virus. In this work, the authors study and discuss the pathological aspects of undifferentiated carcinoma of the nasopharynx in 13 cases. They also seek to make the link between this cancer and the presence of an Epstein-Barr virus infection in these patients. This is a retrospective series of cases involving patients with UCNT, diagnosed on histological basis in Dakar and confirmed by immunohistochemistry. An EBV search was performed on these cases through in situ hybridization by the EBER probe. 15 cases diagnosed on histological basis were able to benefit from immunohistochemistry, and 13 cases were confirmed, ie 87%. The mean age was 28.37 years with extremes of 5 and 56 years. The male sex predominated, with a sex ratio of 8/3. The macroscopic lesions were of ulcerous-budding type for cases revealed by a mass of the cavum. The histological aspect resulted in a proliferation of atypical undifferentiated cells, with large, clear, strongly nucleated nuclei, with eosinophilic cytoplasm, scarcely abundant. The stroma was of the lymphoid type. In situ hybridization with the EBER probe showed moderate or intense diffuse scarring of the tumor cells for 10 cases, ie 77%. The number of cases noted in our study taking into account the period of 10 years considered, is indicative of the rare nature of this type of cancer in Dakar. While globally, Epstein-Barr Virus is consistently associated with UCNT, for some of our cases we have not been able to highlight EBV, suggesting the possible involvement of other risk factors, such as HPV.
Processing Request
No Comments.