PLASMACYTOMA OF THE NOSE AND NASOPHARYNX

Abstract

Plasmacytomas of the nose and nasopharynx are not frequently encountered. Ewing¹ said that considering the comparative frequency and peculiar clinical course of plasma cell tumors of the mucous membranes and lymph nodes, they have received inadequate attention. The literature does not contain many reports of cases of plasmacytoma of the nasal mucosa or nasopharynx. Claiborn and Ferris,² in 1931, found only twelve cases in a review of the literature, to which they added two cases of their own. In the last few years, reports of several more cases have been added. Geschickter and Copeland,³ in a review of the literature on multiple myeloma, reported rare metastases to the tonsil, but none to the nose and nasopharynx. My purpose in this paper is to report two cases of plasmacytoma that have occurred recently in the routine pathologic work at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary; one was a