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Purpuric adult T‐cell leukaemia/lymphoma: expansion of unusual CD4/CD8 double‐negative malignant T cells expressing CCR4 but bearing the cytotoxic molecule granzyme B
Author(s) -
Shimauchi T.,
Hirokawa Y.,
Tokura Y.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
british journal of dermatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.304
H-Index - 179
eISSN - 1365-2133
pISSN - 0007-0963
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2133.2004.06281.x
Subject(s) - cytotoxic t cell , granzyme b , ccr4 , cd8 , cancer research , lymphoma , medicine , pathology , chemistry , immunology , in vitro , immune system , biochemistry , chemokine , chemokine receptor
Summary A 78‐year‐old Japanese woman with adult T‐cell leukaemia/lymphoma (ATL) presented with an unusual purpuric and erythematous eruption on the face and trunk. Immunohistochemical and flow cytometric analyses showed that the tumour cells were CD4/CD8 double‐negative, and expressed CCR4 T‐helper (Th) 2 chemokine receptors. Despite these features, the cells aberrantly produced granzyme B, which is a cytotoxic molecule usually produced by CD8+ cytotoxic T cells, natural killer cells, or occasionally by Th1 cells. In a purpuric lesion, extravasation of erythrocytes was associated with an infiltrate of these cytotoxic tumour cells. Our case suggests phenotypical and functional heterogeneity of tumour cells in ATL, which may be closely related to the clinical appearance of the skin eruption.