Secondary cutaneous peripheral T-cell lymphoma, unspecified, with generalized benign-looking dermatitis: a possibly distinct peripheral T-cell lymphoma.

BACKGROUND: Cutaneous lymphomas are a heterogeneous group of tumors with various clinical manifestations, histological features, and prognoses.
METHODS: Among 425 cases of cutaneous lymphoma, we describe eight cases of peripheral T-cell lymphoma, unspecified, presenting with generalized benign-looking dermatitis.
RESULTS: Our case series included eight cases of secondary cutaneous peripheral T-cell lymphoma, unspecified. The observed clinical morphology features included drug eruption-like generalized morbilliform maculopatches in two cases, generalized folliculitis-like papules in two cases, and generalized eczematous dermatitis-like papules and patches in four cases. Histopathological examination demonstrated tumor cell infiltrates of mainly atypical, small-to-medium lymphoid cells that were perivascularly or periadnexally distributed throughout the dermis. Immunohistochemical staining results for CD2, CD3, CD4, and CD8 revealed that the tumor cells were T-cells.
CONCLUSION: This collection of cases and literature review emphasizes the need for clinical suspicion of peripheral T-cell lymphoma, unspecified, in the differential diagnosis of adult patients with refractory eczematous or benign-looking skin lesions.