Cutaneous Manifestations of Unspecified Peripheral T-Cell Lymphoma May Be Indicative of Disease Activity and Predict Response to Therapy

Abstract

Cutaneous manifestations of internal malignancy encompass both direct extension of tumor to the skin and indirect involvement (the so-called paraneoplastic syndromes). Direct cutaneous manifestations parallel systemic disease in progression, remission, and response to treatment. Peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL) comprises a group of mature T-cell malignancies that together make up less than 15% of all non-Hodgkin's lymphoma; PTCL has been reported to directly involve the skin in a minority of cases.1 Unspecified PTCL (PTCL-u) makes up the majority of these lymphomas (60% to 70%).2 We report a patient with PTCL-u with secondary cutaneous involvement who was treated with a new histone deacetylase inhibitor, romidepsin (Istodax; Celgene, Summit, NJ). Because skin manifestations correlate with systemic disease activity, cutaneous manifestations can aid in monitoring of the systemic responses to therapy and can be a first warning sign of relapse.