title: Primary cutaneous large cell lymphomas of follicular center cell origin. A clinical follow-up study of nineteen patients.
abstract: In this study the clinical characteristics and follow-up data of nineteen patients with a diffuse large cell lymphoma of follicular center cell (B cell) origin, with only skin lesions at presentation, are reported. Sixteen of nineteen patients came to us with localized nodules or tumors, preferentially on the trunk, scalp, and lower legs. Remarkably, eight of eleven patients with disease confined to a limited area on the trunk had a history of slowly progressive papular lesions that had been present for 1 to 20 years prior to the development of rapidly growing skin tumors. Initial treatment, generally radiotherapy and/or polychemotherapy, resulted in complete remissions in seventeen of nineteen patients. Only three patients developed extracutaneous disease, whereas two other patients had recurrent disease in the skin at sites distant from the original skin lesions. Excluding three patients who had just finished initial treatment at the time of writing, twelve of sixteen patients were currently alive and in complete remission with a median survival of 44 months. Four patients died, three of whom were elderly women who had skin tumors on the lower legs when first seen. These results suggest that patients with a primary cutaneous large cell lymphoma of follicular center cell origin with disease confined to the trunk of scalp have a very favorable prognosis.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001402:B-Lymphocytes; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008224:Lymphoma, Follicular / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012074:Remission Induction; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy