New Concepts in the Classification of Cutaneous Lymphomas

Abstract

IN THIS ISSUE of theArchives, Friedmann et al 1 describe 11 patients with a primary cutaneous pleomorphic small T-cell lymphoma and suggest that this represents a new and distinct type of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL). 1 These primary cutaneous pleomorphic small T-cell lymphomas represent only one of the many new types of cutaneous lymphomas that have been published over the last decade in the dermatologic literature. For many decades, mycosis fungoides (MF), Sezary syndrome, and related disorders such as pagetoid reticulosis and lymphomatoid papulosis (LyP) were the only types of cutaneous lymphoma that had been rather well defined. Reports on cutaneous lymphomas other than MF and/or Sezary syndrome were few. These lymphomas, commonly designated as malignant reticulosis or reticulum cell sarcoma, were generally regarded as manifestations of systemic lymphoma, and their prognosis was considered poor. 2-4 With the introduction of immunohistochemical studies in the diagnosis and classification of cutaneous