Extragenital lichen sclerosus et atrophicus mimicking cutaneous T‐cell lymphoma: report of a case

Abstract

Early lesions of lichen sclerosus et atrophicus (LSA) may present as a mild lichenoid tissue reaction, occasionally together with basilar epidermotropism, mimicking early cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, mycosis fungoides (MF) variant. We report a case of extragenital LSA in which both histological patterns were present in the same clinically homogenous and stable lesion. A 27-year-old man presented with a history of white atrophic plaques on the trunk. A biopsy of an abdominal lesion revealed epidermal thinning, a superficial perivascular lymphoid cell infiltrate with focal epidermotropism, mild nuclear atypia and perinuclear halos. Immunophenotyping showed decreased CD5 and CD7, with a slight predominance of CD8-positive T-lymphocytes. All these changes were suggestive of MF. However, a repeat biopsy 3 months later from the same stable plaque revealed features diagnostic of LSA. LSA mimicking early MF histologically has been reported in genital skin. Conversely, MF may clinically and histopathologically resemble LSA. With gene rearrangement studies, clonal proliferation may not be detected in early MF but has been reported to occur in LSA. Awareness of the histopathologic spectrum of LSA within a stable plaque is important to avoid a potential diagnostic pitfall, and should prompt a repeat biopsy.