A Clinicopathological Analysis of Primary Cutaneous Lymphomas: A 6-year Observational Study at a Tertiary Care Center of South India

BACKGROUND: Little data are available concerning clinical and pathological patterns of cutaneous lymphomas in India. AIM: To analyze the clinical and histopathological characteristics of cutaneous lymphomas in Indian patients MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a single-center, prospective, observational study carried out from January 1, 2010, to December 31, 2015. The patients underwent clinical examination, human T-cell lymphotropic virus-1 (HTLV-1) screening, skin biopsy with hematoxylin and eosin and immunohistochemistry staining. RESULTS: Among 35 cases, 33 (94.3%) were T-cell, and 2 (5.7%) were B-cell lymphomas. The mean age was 52.66, and the male to female ratio was 2.5:1. The most common types of T-cell lymphomas included mycosis fungoides (MF) (57.1%) followed by adult T-cell lymphoma/leukemia (ATL) (17.1%). Primary cutaneous peripheral T-cell lymphoma not otherwise specified was diagnosed in 17.1% and anaplastic large cell lymphoma in 2.9%. The morphological types of MF included polymorphic, poikilodermatous, folliculotropic, hypopigmented, hyperpigmented, mixed, and purpuric. Skin manifestations of ATL included ulcerated plaques and erythroderma. Epidermotropism was very marked in ATL (83.3%) than in MF (70%). Larger Pautrier's microabscess was noted in ATL compared to smaller ones in MF. Markedly dense, diffuse infiltrate of atypical cells was noted in ATL in contrast to mild to moderate nodular or perivascular infiltrate in MF. ATL had an extremely poor prognosis. LIMITATIONS: Identification of DNA integration of HTLV-1 by Southern blot could not be analyzed, and the number of cases studied is limited. CONCLUSIONS: The study showed unique patterns of subtypes of cutaneous lymphomas in our country. Variations in the clinical pattern and histopathological analysis will help to differentiate T-cell lymphoma types which have prognostic implications.