title: Adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma associated with noninfectious epithelioid granuloma in the skin: a clinicopathologic study.
abstract: Hodgkin's disease (HD) and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) are infrequently associated with noninfectious granulomas in involved or noninvolved organs. Adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL) is an aggressive lymphoproliferative neoplasm associated with T-lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1). We describe a case of cutaneous type ATLL, affecting mainly the skin as a maculopapular eruption, in which some skin biopsies contained epithelioid cell granulomas in the lymphoma cutis (ATLL) lesion. These Lennert's-like epithelioid clusters were also present in lymph nodes, which showed some degree of invasion by the ATLL lymphocytes. Although prognosis of ATLL is generally poor, our patient has had a less aggressive course, with a survival time to date of 13 years. Our findings suggest that the presence of epithelioid granulomata in an ATLL patient may be a manifestation of a host response which confers some protection against the disease progression. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a case of ATLL with a noninfectious granuloma similar to a Lennert's lesion.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Faculty of Medicine, Kagoshima University, Japan.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Setoyama
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Katahira
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kanzaki
authors.forename: F A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Kerdel
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Byrnes
mesh_terms: D003240:Connective Tissue Diseases / Q000150:complications*; D015622:Epithelioid Cells / Q000473:pathology*; D006099:Granuloma / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D015459:Leukemia-Lymphoma, Adult T-Cell / Q000150:complications*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012867:Skin / Q000473:pathology* / Q000821:virology*; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000150:complications* / Q000821:virology