Noncutaneous peripheral T-cell lymphoma histologically resembling mycosis fungoides

We have studied the clinical and pathologic features of three patients with a distinctive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of the diffuse mixed cell type. The tumors were characterized by a mixture of lymphoid cells of widely varying size and degree of nuclear transformation. A distinctive feature of the neoplastic cells was the presence of cerebriform nuclear contours identical to those seen in mycosis fungoides. Immunologic studies performed on lymph nodes from two patients revealed that the neoplastic cells were T-cells. Characteristic clinical features of the patients were an advanced stage of disease at diagnosis, absence of skin lesions, presence of lung involvement, poor response to aggressive chemotherapy, and a short survival time (9-13 months). The features described closely resemble those of the pleomorphic variant of Japanese adult T-cell leukemia-lymphoma.