Preferential epidermotropism in adult T-cell leukemia–lymphoma

Abstract

Three patients with systemic T-cell leukemia-lymphoma presented with generalized pruritic skin rash which was clinically nondiagnostic. Biopsies revealed infiltration of the superficial dermis by atypical lymphoid cells with epidermal exocytosis (Pautrier abscesses) producing a pattern of histologic involvement indistinguishable from that of mycosis fungoides and Sézary syndrome. This striking similarity suggests that the phenomenon of preferential epidermotropism is not confined to mycosis fungoides and Sézary syndrome, but may be a property shared by other subpopulations of T-lymphocytes.