COMPARATIVE-ANALYSIS OF HISTOLOGICAL AND IMMUNOHISTOLOGICAL FEATURES IN MYCOSIS-FUNGOIDES AND SEZARY-SYNDROME

Mycosis fungoides (MF) and Sezary syndrome (SS) are closely related cu taneous T-cell lymphomas, which differ in several clinical aspects. We compared histological and immunophenotypical features of these two en tities, which could be implicated in the dermotropism and epidermotrop ism, characteristic for both of them. Thirteen biopsy specimens from p atients with established plaque-stage MF and 13 from SS patients were examined retrospectively, and 21 histological criteria were assessed. Further, 9 cryosections from MF lesions and 9 from SS lesions were sta ined for LFA, ICAM1, CD40, CD40-ligand, CD28, CD80, CTLA-4, CD86, FAS, FAS-ligand, CLA and CD15s. The only histological criteria that showed persistent differences were acanthosis (in 12 of 13 SS and in 7 of 13 MF specimens) and Pautrier collections (detected in 6 SS and 11 MF bi opsies). Patterns of staining with the antibodies mentioned above were found to be similar. Our results indicate that these interaction mole cules seem to be involved in the pathogenesis of MF and SS, but their immunohistochemical distribution does not contribute to the differenti ation between the two entities.