Epstein-Barr virus-associated proliferative disorder presenting as Hodgkin's lymphoma and developing as aggressive natural killer-cell leukemia 19 years later: a case report of composite lymphoma.

We describe a patient who was diagnosed as having classic Hodgkin's lymphoma at 29 years of age, and aggressive natural killer-cell leukemia at 48 years. He died 42 days later. Hodgkin and Reed-Sternberg cells in the lymph node expressed CD30, CD15, T-cell intracellular antigen-1 (TIA-1), perforin, granzyme B, and Epstein-Barr virus-encoded RNA (EBER). Natural killer-cell leukemia cells in the bone marrow expressed cytoplasmic CD3epsilon, TIA-1, perforin, granzyme B, and EBER, and some neoplastic cells expressed CD56 (123C3). Fluorescence-activated cell sorter (FACS) analysis showed that neoplastic cells expressed CD56. Neither a rearrangement band of the T-cell receptor gene nor that of the immunoglobulin heavy chain gene was detected. Chromosomal abnormalities were noted.