Deciphering Tumor Cell Evolution in Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphomas: Distinct Differentiation Trajectories in Mycosis Fungoides and Sézary Syndrome

Abstract

Cutaneous T-cell lymphomas are a heterogeneous group of neoplasms originating in the skin, with mycosis fungoides (MF) and Sézary syndrome (SS) representing the most common variants. The cellular origin of cutaneous lymphomas has remained controversial owing to their immense phenotypic heterogeneity that obfuscates lineage reconstruction on the basis of classical surface biomarkers. To overcome this heterogeneity and reconstruct the differentiation trajectory of malignant cells in MF and SS, TCR sequencing was performed in parallel with targeted transcriptomics at the single-cell resolution among cutaneous samples in MF and SS. Unsupervised lineage reconstruction showed that Sézary cells exist as a population of CD4⁺ T cells distinct from those in patch, plaque, and tumor MF. Further investigation of malignant cell heterogeneity in SS showed that Sézary cells phenotypically comprised at least 3 subsets on the basis of differential proliferation potentials and expression of exhaustion markers. A T helper 1-polarized cell type, intermediate cell type, and exhausted T helper 2-polarized cell type were identified, with T helper 1- and T helper 2-polarized cells displaying divergent proliferation potentials. Collectively, these findings provide evidence to clarify the relationship between MF and SS and reveal cell subsets in SS that suggest a possible mechanism for therapeutic resistance.

Keywords: Cutaneous lymphoma; Mycosis fungoides; Progenitors; Sézary syndrome.