Podoplanin as a Predictive Marker for Identification of High-Risk Mycosis Fungoides Patients: An Immunohistochemical Study

BACKGROUND: Podoplanin, an important protein, has been implicated in various cellular processes, including lymphangiogenesis. Podoplanin is a mucin-type transmembrane glycoprotein that is accepted as a novel marker of lymphatic endothelial cells. OBJECTIVES: To study the immunohistochemical expression of podoplanin in the different stages of mycosis fungoides (MF) in comparison to control and to correlate their expression with disease severity and progression. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study included 50 patients of MF, clinically diagnosed and assessed by World Health Organization/European Organization for Research And Treatment Of Cancer Consensus and 20 normal persons as control. Skin biopsy specimens were taken from all and examined for expression of podoplanin immunohistochemically. RESULTS: Significant upregulation of podoplanin expression was detected in all studied patients of MF in comparison to control group. Podoplanin expression in malignant lymphocytes and also lymph vessel density showed significant upregulation in the aggressive clinical presentations as well as the highest stages regarding TNMB staging of MF. CONCLUSIONS: Evaluation of podoplanin expression may be taken into consideration in the future as a useful tool to identify high-risk MF patients. Furthermore, it may open new therapeutic options for the clinical management of those patients.