Abstract
Dear Editor,We report a case of aggressive natural killer (NK) cell leu-kaemia characterised by hepatitis C virus (HCV) andEpstein–Barrvirus(EBV)infectionandmultiplekaryotypeabnormalities in a patient previously treated with radio-chemotherapy for non-haematological cancer.NK cell malignancies are rare haematopoietic tumoursusually associated with EBV infection [1, 2], and aggres-sive NK cell leukaemia is an even rarer disease with a grimprognosis [3–5]. It typically shows multi-organ involve-ment leading to multi-organ failure and has an aggressivecourse that responds poorly to chemotherapy [6, 7].A 76-year-old white woman came to our hospital inApril 2003 complaining of fatigue, dyspnea and fever. Hermedical history included HCV-related liver cirrhosis andovarian cancer, which had been diagnosed 2 years earlierand treated by means of surgery and radio-chemotherapywith alkylating agents and topoisomerase II inhibitors.Physicalexaminationrevealedmultiplesuperficiallymph-adenomegalies and liver and spleen enlargement. Labora-tory examinations showed hyperleucocytosis (WBC 162×10
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