Altered microRNA expression in folliculotropic and transformed mycosis fungoides

Mycosis fungoides (MF) is a common, indolent primary cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL), with rare, more aggressive variants, such as folliculotropic MF (FMF). A minority of the MF cases may undergo large cell transformation (T-MF) associated with poor prognosis. A selection of microRNAs (miRs) contribute to the pathogenesis and progression of classic MF, and may also be useful in differential diagnostics. However, the molecular background of FMF and the mechanisms involved in large cell transformation are obscure. We analyzed the expression of 11 miRs in 9 FMF and 7 T-MF cases. Three miRs, including miR-93-5p, miR-181a and miR-34a were significantly upregulated in both FMF and T-MF. FMF also showed overexpression of miR-155 and miR-223, while miR-181b and miR-326 were overexpressed in T-MF cases compared to controls. These results by identifying a number of differentially expressed microRNAs add further insight into the molecular pathogenesis of folliculotropic MF and large cell transformation of MF.