Primary cutaneous CD30 positive lymphoproliferative disorders: a clinicopathologic analysis

Objective To analyze the clinicopathologic features of primary cutaneous CD30 positive lymphoproliferative disorders. Methods A clinical, pathological and immunohistochemical analysis was carried out in 4 cases of lymphomatoid papulosis and 5 cases of primary cutaneous anaplastic large cell lymphoma. Results Lymphomatoid papulosis was divided into 3 subtypes, A, B and C. The lymphomatoid papulosis of subtype A was pathologically characterized by pleomorphic anaplastic large cells or Steinberg-reed cells scattered or patchly distributed among many inflammatory cells; subtype B showed pathological changes characteristic of granuloma fungoides, and manifested as a broad infiltration zone of lymphocytes in dermis with scattered small- to middle-sized atypical gyrus-like lymphocytes; subtype C was characterized by a diffuse distribution of anaplastic large cells and could clinically subside spontaneously. Primary cutaneous anaplastic large cell lymphoma clinically manifested as subcutaneous nodules or papules, and was pathologically characterized by large, pleomorphic, round or ellipse cells with plentiful, eosinophilic or bicolor cytoplasm, large nuclei and obvious nucleoli. The neoplastic cells characteristically expressed CD30 antigen in both lymphomatoid papulosis and primary cutaneous anaplastic large cell lymphoma, and all the cases showed a favorable prognosis.Conclusions Primary cutaneous CD30 positive lymphoproliferative disorders are a spectrum of cutaneous T cell lymphoma with favorable prognosis, and a synthetic analysis of clinical, histopathological and immunohistochemical findings is beneficial to the diagnosis of these entities. Key words: Lymphoma, large-cell, Ki-1;  Lymphomatoid papulosis