Background: Lymphoblastic lymphoma (LBL) is a rare neoplasm of precursor lymphocytes, and cutaneous involvement is present in less than 20% of cases.
Objective: We sought to describe the clinical and histopathological features of cutaneous LBL.
Methods: We retrospectively examined the clinical and histologic features of 13 patients with cutaneous LBL, 6 with B-LBL and 7 with T-LBL.
Results: Five of 6 patients with B-LBL had lesions in the head and neck area, whereas 4 of 7 patients with T-LBL developed skin lesions on sites other than the head and neck. Seven patients (1 case of B-LBL, and 6 of 7 cases of T-LBL) developed multiple skin lesions, and the T-LBL cases frequently developed multiple skin lesions in the head, neck, and throughout the torso. Complete remission was achieved in 9 patients (3 patients with T-LBL and all patients with B-LBL).
Limitations: This study used a retrospective design and included a small sample size.
Conclusion: This study compared the clinical features of T-LBL and B-LBL, in particular the affected sites and number of skin lesions. Cutaneous T-LBL is likely to be accompanied by disseminated disease and has a relatively poor prognosis compared with B-LBL.
Keywords: ALL; LBL; TdT; acute lymphoblastic leukemia; lymphoblast; lymphoblastic lymphoma; lymphoma; precursor B lymphocytes; precursor T lymphocytes; skin; terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase.
Copyright © 2013 American Academy of Dermatology, Inc. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.