[Cutaneous anaplastic large cell lymphoma: clinicopathologic, immunohistochemical and prognostic study of 44 cases].

Objective To study the cilnicopathologic features,immunophenotype and prognosis of primary cutaneous anaplaatic large cell lymphoma(CALCL).Methods Histopathologic evaluation and immunohistochemical study by Envision method were carried out in 44 archival cages of CALCL The clinical information and foilow-up data were analyzed.Results The patients presented with skin nodules,masses or plaques,sometimes associated with ulceration.The commonest sites of involvement were the extremities.Follow-up data were available in 39 patients.The overall snrvival rate was 87.2%(34/39).Disease relapses were detected in 46.2%(18/39)of the patients.Statistical analysis indicated that patients older than 50 years of age or with no less than two involved anatomic sites were more likely to have disease relapses (P＜0.05).Histologically,31 cases were classified as common variant,6 cases as small cell variant and 7 cases as neutrophil/eosinophil-rich variant.Immunohistochemical study showed that the rates of expression of CD30,CD45,CD45RO,CD43,CD3,cytotoxic protein and epithelial membrane antigen were 100%(44/44),91.2%(31/34),82.6%(19/23),94.7%(18/19),70.0%(28/40),73.3%(22/30)and 31.8%(7/22),respectively.The CD4~+/CD8~-,CD4~-/CD8~+ and CD4~-/CD8~- immunophenotypes were found in 58.3%(21/36),22.2%(8/36)and 19.4%(7/36)of the CALCL cases,respectively.Only one case(3.7%)expressed CD56.Conclusions CALCL is a form of low-grade primary cutsneous T-cell lymphoma with a wide spectrum of clinicopathologic pattern.Special variants of CALCL should not be confused with other types of cutaneous lymphomas and inflammatory lesions.CALCL patients older than 50 years of age or with no less than two involved anatomic sites are more likely to have disease relapses. Key words: Lymphoma,T-cell,cutaneous; Immunophenotyping; Diagnosis,differential