Increased serum concentration of the soluble interleukin-2 receptor in cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. Clinical and prognostic implications.
METHODS
The serum concentration of soluble alpha-chain receptor for interleukin-2 (sIL-2R) was determined in 101 patients with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL).


RESULTS
The serum concentration of sIL-2R correlates positively with CTCL tumor burden as determined by several clinical parameters (ie, clinical subtype of disease, extent of skin involvement, T rating, and stage), by serum lactate dehydrogenase concentration, and by Sézary cell counts in erythrodermic disease. The median value of sIL-2R in erythrodermic CTCL was more than threefold higher than that of classic mycosis fungoides (MF). The proportion of patients with elevated sIL-2R concentration (> 1000 U/mL) also increased in CTCL in a similar fashion according to the clinical type of disease (MF patch phase, 15%; MF plaque phase, 33%; MF tumor phase, 47%; and erythrodermic variants, 90%). However, no correlation was found between sIL-2R serum concentration and expression of membrane-bound IL-2R alpha chain (CD25) on lymphoid cells in skin lesions and peripheral blood. Significantly, multivariate analysis of various prognostic factors demonstrated that in erythrodermic CTCL, sIL-2R serum concentration correlated best with survival and was a better predictor of prognosis than stage, Sézary cell counts, or lactate dehydrogenase values.


CONCLUSIONS
These findings document the usefulness of the measurement of the sIL-2R serum concentration to determine tumor burden and prognosis in patients with CTCL.
Department of Pathology, Beth Israel Hospital, Boston, Mass, USA.
M A
MA
Wasik
E C
EC
Vonderheid
R D
RD
Bigler
R
R
Marti
S R
SR
Lessin
M
M
Polansky
M E
ME
Kadin
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007770:L-Lactate Dehydrogenase / Q000097:blood; D016410:Lymphoma, T-Cell, Cutaneous / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology* / Q000401:mortality; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D015375:Receptors, Interleukin-2 / Q000378:metabolism*; D012867:Skin / Q000276:immunology; D012995:Solubility; D015996:Survival Rate
D015375:Receptors, Interleukin-2; D007770:L-Lactate Dehydrogenase