Characteristics of cutaneous lymphomas in Korea.

The clinicopathologic characteristics of malignant lymphomas vary according to geography. The aim of this study was to determine the relative frequency of cutaneous lymphomas and to examine the clinical relevance of the WHO classification in Korean cases of cutaneous lymphoma. The Korean Dermatopathology Research Group conducted a clinicopathologic review of a nationwide collection of 80 cutaneous lymphomas, diagnosed at 23 institutes over a recent 3-year period. The clinical records, haematoxylin & eosin-stained slides and immunohistochemical stains from 80 patients with malignant lymphomas of the skin were reviewed. In our study, the most frequent cutaneous lymphoma was mycosis fungoides. Compared with Western countries, Korea had higher rates of NK/T cell lymphoma and subcutaneous panniculitis-like T-cell lymphoma and a much lower rate of B-cell lymphoma. The occurrence rates for various subtypes of malignant lymphoma in Korea are distinct from those in Western countries. The EORTC classification is not fully appropriate in dealing with Korean cases of cutaneous lymphoma, because NK/T cell lymphoma is not included in the EORTC classification for cutaneous lymphoma.