Abstract

The author classified 38 cases of malignant lymphoma involving the skin primarily or secondarily by the new WHO classification with minor modifications and carried out RNA in situ hybridization and/or polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to investigate the role of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). A case was follicular lymphoma of B cell origin and 37 cases were malignant lymphomas of T cell origin, including 15 cases of Mycosis fungoides/Sezary syndrome, five cases of subcutaneous panniculitis-like T cell lymphomas, a case of anaplastic large cell lymphoma, and four cases of primary cutaneous CD30 T cell lymphoproliferative disorders. There were eight cases of unspecified peripheral T cell lymphomas, in which four cases were composed of medium-sized cells, three cases of large cells, and a case of lymphoepithelioid cells. Four cases of nasal and nasal type NK/T cell lymphomas and three cases of unspecified peripheral T cell lymphomas showed EBV genome. The nasal and nasal type NK/T cell lymphomas, especially those involving the nasal cavity, showed close association with the EBV infection.

• Keywords: Malignant lymphoma;Skin;Epstein-Barr virus;