T-cell lymphoma of the tonsil with Ki-1 antigen expression.

A 52-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital with a fever and swelling of the tonsils and lymph nodes. A tonsillectomy was performed and she was diagnosed as having non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of T-cell phenotype. Genotypic analysis revealed a rearrangement of the T-cell receptor gene, but not of the immunoglobulin genes. The neoplastic cells of the tonsils also expressed the Ki-1 antigen. The clinical course was aggressive with peripheralization of the neoplastic cells, and the patient died of respiratory failure.