title: Conjugal transformed mycosis fungoides: the unknown role of viral infection and environmental exposures in the development of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma.
abstract: The etiology of mycosis fungoides (MF) is uncertain, although infectious agents and other environmental exposures have been implicated. We describe what appears to be the first case in which both a husband and his wife were diagnosed with large-cell transformation of MF. After 10 years of having stage I MF, the wife developed tumors that showed sheets of large transformed cells with dysplastic nuclei on skin biopsies, leading to a diagnosis of transformed MF. Her husband was diagnosed 14 months later with transformed MF following a biopsy of his right arm and leg after a 15-year history of presumed psoriasis. The fact that this rare occurrence happened in a couple who had been married for more than 25 years points to a common environmental exposure. Future studies should aim to clarify the potential role of infectious agents, such as human T-lymphotropic virus I and II, cytomegalovirus, Epstein-Barr virus, and other environmental exposures, in the development of MF.
authors.affiliation: Division of Dermatology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
authors.forename: Adriana N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.forename: Jason B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Robbins
authors.forename: John P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Greer
authors.forename: John A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Zic
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008393:Marriage; D008875:Middle Aged; D009182:Mycosis Fungoides / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D013997:Time Factors; D014777:Virus Diseases / Q000150:complications*