ABSTRACT
Comparison of the 2007 EORTC/ISCL and the 2022 EORTC/ISCL/USCLC blood staging guidelines for cutaneous T-cell lymphoma at a single institution reveals the newer guidelines fail to detect a subset of patients with Sézary syndrome with low blood burden.
Subject(s)
Lymphoma, T-Cell, Cutaneous , Neoplasm Staging , Sezary Syndrome , Skin Neoplasms , Humans , Sezary Syndrome/pathology , Sezary Syndrome/diagnosis , Sezary Syndrome/blood , Lymphoma, T-Cell, Cutaneous/diagnosis , Lymphoma, T-Cell, Cutaneous/pathology , Lymphoma, T-Cell, Cutaneous/blood , Skin Neoplasms/pathology , Skin Neoplasms/blood , Skin Neoplasms/diagnosis , Male , Female , Middle Aged , Aged , Practice Guidelines as TopicABSTRACT
Lymphomatoid papulosis (LyP) has several histopathologic presentations. LyP featuring gamma-delta (γδ) T-cell receptor expression may masquerade as and may be misdiagnosed as aggressive cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, particularly primary cutaneous γδ T-cell lymphoma (PCGDTL) or γδ mycosis fungoides. We performed a clinicopathologic analysis of the largest series of LyP featuring γδ T-cell expression. We identified 26 patients with a diagnosis of LyP with γδ T cells from our institutions, as well as through a comprehensive review of the literature, and characterized these cases. Most cases were treated with topical steroids or not treated at all. The majority of cases showed a CD4 - CD8 + phenotype and featured at least one cytotoxic marker. Histopathologic features included an intraepidermal or dermal infiltrate with large cells and frequent angiotropism. One case was initially misdiagnosed as PCGDTL, requiring further therapy. Our case series, the largest international cohort of γδ T cell predominant LyP cases, confirms marked clinicopathologic heterogeneity that may contribute to misdiagnosis, reasserting the need to identify classic clinical features, CD30 + T-cell components, and markers of cytotoxicity when dealing with this differential diagnosis. A limitation of this study includes somewhat limited follow-up, histologic, and immunophenotypic information for some cases.