THE ROLE OF THE CD8+:CD3+ RATIO OF CELL DIFFERENTIATION MARKERS IN LYMPHOCYTIC INFILTRATES OF THE SKIN WITH MYCOSIS FUNGOIDES

Abstract

Histological diagnosis of mycosis fungoides is complicated, particularly during the early clinical manifestations of skin disease where changes can be interpreted as a banal inflammation. Histopathology of mycosis fungoides is characterized by the formation in the upper dermal of lymphocytic infiltrates as a result of clonal proliferation of tumor epidermotropic CD4+ lymphocytes with a small percentage of CD8 + cells. The vast predominance of CD4+ lymphocytes in skin infiltrate and an increase the ratio of CD4+:CD8+ is the main criterion of mycosis fungoides diagnosis. However, histiocytes, involved in the formation of inflammatory infiltrate, also have CD4 positivity the same as CD4+ lymphocytes, which were presented as a significant sign of mycosis fungoides. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine whether the CD8+-CD3+ ratio could be a marker for the diagnosis of mycosis fungoides, which excludes histiocytic component. Quantitative CD8+:CD3+ ratios were determined separately in the epidermal and dermal component of the skin biopsies of 5 patients with mycosis fungoides in the early stages of the disease. As the result we can estimate that CD8+:CD3+ ratio can be used in the differential diagnosis of mycosis fungoides and inflammatory dermatoses.

Keywords

• cd3 , cd8 , lymphocytes, mycosis fungoides.