CD8+ T Lymphocytes in Hypopigmented Mycosis Fungoides: Malignant Cells or Reactive Clone?

Abstract

Hypopigmented mycosis fungoides (HMF) is the most common type of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma in children (Amorim et al., 2018). HMF has a benign course and rarely progresses past localized disease, a striking difference from classic MF, which sometimes progresses from patches to tumors in an average of 12.4 years. On the basis of the identification of dominant clonal T-cell populations, classic MF is seen as a malignancy of CD4+ skin-resident memory cells, whereas HMF is considered to be a malignancy of CD8+ T cells (El-Shabrawi-Caelen et al., 2002).