T-cell lymphomas are infrequently encountered in the head and neck area, with the most common subtype being Extranodal NK/T cell lymphoma, nasal type (ENKTL-NT). ENKTL-NT shows a predilection for midline facial structures presenting with ulcerative destructive lesions, whereas palatal involvement is one of the most prominent signs from the oral cavity. Herein, we describe a case of a 76-year-old Greek man with nasal obstruction and an extensive painful necrotic ulcer with ragged borders on the left distal portion of the soft palate and palatine tonsil of 4-months duration. After an initial non-diagnostic biopsy from the nasopharynx, a second incisional biopsy from the palatal lesions was performed. Histopathology was suggestive of an angiocentric lymphoproliferative neoplasm and immunohistochemical examination and in situ hybridization for EBV RNA led to a final diagnosis of ENKTL-NT. The patient was placed under combined chemotherapy and radiotherapy and no recurrence has been noted. Additionally, a retrospective review of the cases in the English literature with an established diagnosis of ENTKL-NT between 2000 and 2019, based on the latest WHO classification of Head and Neck tumors, is performed.

It is unclear whether smoking interacts with different aspects of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection with regard to multiple sclerosis (MS) risk. We aimed to investigate whether smoking acts synergistically with elevated EBNA-1 antibody levels or infectious mononucleosis (IM) history regarding MS risk. Two Swedish population-based case-control studies were used (6,340 cases and 6,219 matched controls). Subjects with different smoking, EBNA-1 and IM status were compared regarding MS risk, by calculating odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) employing logistic regression. Potential interaction on the additive scale was evaluated by calculating the attributable proportion due to interaction (AP). Current and past smokers had higher EBNA-1 antibody levels than never smokers (p < 0.0001). There was an additive interaction between current smoking and high EBNA-1 antibody levels (AP 0.3, 95% CI 0.2-0.4), but not between past smoking and high EBNA-1 antibody levels (AP 0.01, 95% CI -0.1 to 0.1), with regard to MS risk. An interaction also occurred between current smoking and IM history (AP 0.2, 95% CI 0.004-0.4), but not between past smoking and IM history (AP -0.06, 95% CI -0.4 to 0.3). Current smoking increases EBNA-1 antibody levels and acts synergistically with both aspects of EBV infection to increase MS risk, indicating that there is at least one pathway to disease in which both risk factors are involved.