B. Brooks et al., ESTIMATES OF NUCLEAR VOLUME IN PLAQUE AND TUMOR-STAGE MYCOSIS-FUNGOIDES - A NEW PROGNOSTIC INDICATOR, The American journal of dermatopathology, 16(6), 1994, pp. 599-606
It is well documented that mycosis fungoides (MF), a cutaneous T-cell
lymphoma, has a variable clinical course. Unbiased stereological estim
ates of three-dimensional volume-weighted mean nuclear size (nucl (v)
over bar(v)) of mycosis cells were obtained in a retrospective study o
f 18 patients with a total of 34 biopsies of cutaneous plaque and tumo
r-stage MF. The value of nucl (v) over bar(v) in the first sampled bio
psy, as well as the average and highest values, were determined in bio
psies from each patient. The patients were divided into two groups, ei
ther above or below the group median. There was a strong positive corr
elation between shorter survival and an average value of nucl (v) over
bar(v) > 104 mu m(3) or a highest value of nucl (v) over bar(v) > 126
mu m(3) (2p = 0.002 and 0.003, respectively). A nucl (v) over bar(v)
> 91.6 mu m(3) in the first biopsy was also suggestive of a shorter su
rvival (2p = 0.07). There was no clear pattern of nucl (v) over bar(v)
evolution in the patients with multiple biopsies, but the impact of v
arious therapeutic regimes cannot be assessed. Certain estimates of nu
cl (v) over bar(v) appear to be good prognostic indicators in plaque a
nd tumor-stage MF, but further study of a larger series of patients is
needed to corroborate these results and assess the impact of differin
g therapeutic regimes.