Lymphatic vessel involvement in primary cutaneous B-cell lymphoma: A common finding?

Abstract

Background: Cutaneous B-cell lymphoma (CBCL) is part of dermatopathological routine diagnostics. However, in contrast to cutaneous T-cell lymphomas, there are only a few studies on the prevalence and possible clinical impact of lymphatic vessel involvement. Therefore, this pilot study aimed to quantify the prevalence of lymphovascular involvement in CBCL and to assess the association between lymphovascular involvement and recurrence.

Methods: Thirty-nine patients from two tertiary care hospitals diagnosed with CBCL were retrospectively identified and their biopsies were histopathologically examined for the presence of lymphatic vessel involvement using H&E stain, and CD20 and D2-40 immunohistochemistry. Clinical data were retrieved from our digital documentation files.

Results: Thirty patients were included in the evaluation (n_PCFCL = 15, n_PCMZL = 10, and n_PCLBCL = 5). Lymphovascular involvement occurred in all three types of lymphoma and was present in 14/30 specimens. The presence of lymphatic involvement did not show a significant impact on recurrence rate (p = 0.150).

Conclusions: This immunohistochemical pilot study shows that lymphovascular involvement is a relatively frequent finding in primary CBCL. Although no definitive conclusion can be drawn from our findings because of the small sample size, there were no strong signs of tendencies for recurrence in either group. Future studies with larger sample size are warranted to assess the possible clinical implications.

Keywords: cutaneous B-cell lymphoma; lymph vessel invasion; lymphatic involvement.