| pubmed-article:2253957 | pubmed:abstractText | Infiltrated skin lesions, histologically characterized by a perivascular and periadnexal lympho-histiocytic infiltrate in the upper and deep dermis, are quite frequently observed in patients with B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (C-CLL). The correct identification of the actual nature of these lesions, defined as specific on clinical and histologic grounds, is essential for a proper staging of the disease and, consequently, for the prognostic evaluation. In 6 patients with B-CLL, we performed an immunohistochemical study of specific skin lesions, with the aim of exactly defining the actual nature of infiltrating cells. Only in 2 of 6 cases immunophenotyping evidenced the neoplastic B-cell nature of skin infiltrating lymphoid cells; this finding was clearly correlated with the clinical evolution of the disease, rapidly fatal in both cases. The results of the present study indicate that the immunohistochemical analysis of skin lesions allows the proper staging of the disease, thus giving an important prognostic indication. | lld:pubmed |
