Maintenance of long-term remission using oral administration of low-dose etoposide in a patient demonstrating a relapse of blastic natural killer-cell lymphoma

Abstract

Conflict of interest: none declared. Cutaneous manifestations are frequent in cases of blastic natural killer (NK)‐cell lymphoma, which is a rare malignant lymphoma. Blastic NK‐cell lymphoma has a poor prognosis, with repeated relapses, and most patients with this disease are elderly.1 It is therefore important to develop treatments that prevent relapse of this lymphoma without severe adverse effects, so that the quality of life of patients with this disease can be maintained. We report here a case of blastic NK‐cell lymphoma with relatively long‐term survival, in which the oral administration of low‐dose etoposide seemed to be useful for preventing relapse of the disease. A 72‐year‐old man presented with a tumour on the flexural region of his right forearm and multiple erythematous plaques on his back in December 2001. He had first become aware of a small tumour on his right forearm about 6 months earlier, and the tumour had been gradually increasing in size since then. He also noted multiple eruptions on his back early in December 2001.