[The larynx in lymphoproliferative and myeloproliferative diseases. Part II: Laryngeal autopsy findings and discussion].

Lymphoreticular neoplasms of the larynx are rare and comprise a heterogeneous group of tumors. A systematic survey of the literature and autoptic evaluation of the larynx in a relatively small number of patients with systemic lymphoreticular malignancies yielded the following findings: Primary tumors of the larynx must be clearly distinguished from laryngeal involvement by systemic or leukemic infiltrations. By far the most common primary hemopoietic tumors of the larynx are extramedullary plasmacytoma (about 90 cases published) and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL; about 65 cases published). Primary Hodgkin's disease, granulocytic sarcoma and mast cell sarcoma are extremely rare at this site. Plasmacytoma and NHL both preferentially involve the supraglottis. The subglottis is infrequently affected. Laryngeal plasmacytoma and NHL usually present clinically as localized stage IE and IIE tumors that exhibit no significant tendency to recur or generalize. The therapy of choice is local irradiation while chemotherapy should be reserved for recurrent or progressive disease. Prognosis is favourable in most cases of primary laryngeal plasmacytoma and NHL. Secondary involvement of the larynx by systemic lesions or leukemic infiltrations is usually associated with a very poor prognosis. The prognosis of patients with laryngeal involvement in acute or chronic myeloid leukemia is always poor. Although the histopathological diagnoses given in many case reports are often difficult to compare because of differences in terminology, there seems to be a marked preponderance of B-cell tumors of high-grade malignancy (centroblastic or immunoblastic lymphoma in the Kiel classification of NHL) that probably represents lymphomas originating from mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)