Evaluation of Associated Lymphomas and Their Risk Factors in Patients with Lymphomatoid Papulosis: A Retrospective Single-Center Study from Turkey

Objective:

Lymphomatoid papulosis (LyP) is an indolent skin disease with variable clinical features classified among the primary cutaneous CD30+ T-cell lymphoproliferative disorders. It may show association with cutaneous and systemic lymphomas. We aimed to identify the frequency and characteristics of associated lymphomas among Turkish patients with LyP and to determine the risk factors for secondary lymphomas.

Materials and Methods:

The files of patients diagnosed with LyP between 1998 and 2018 in a tertiary dermatology clinic were retrospectively analyzed. Univariate and multivariate models were used to assess the possible risk factors for secondary lymphomas, such as demographic and clinical characteristics of the patients.

Results:

Among 61 patients (47 adults, 14 children) with LyP, a total of 22 secondary lymphomas were observed in 20 patients. Nineteen of them were adults. Mycosis fungoides (MF) was the major associated lymphoma (n=19) followed by systemic anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) (n=2) and primary cutaneous ALCL (n=1). The most common stage in patients with accompanying MF was stage IB (n=11). While 18 patients showed the classical type of MF, one patient had folliculotropic MF. When the risk factors for association between LyP and other lymphomas were evaluated, only older age was found to be a significant risk factor and existence of ulcerated lesions was found to be a negative indicator.

Conclusion:

LyP is not rare in the pediatric population. MF is the most common associated lymphoma in patients with LyP. Adult LyP patients are more commonly associated with secondary lymphomas than pediatric patients. Older age at the time of diagnosis of LyP is a significant risk factor for associated lymphomas.