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Immunophenotypic stability of Sézary cells by flow cytometry: usefulness of flow cytometry in assessing response to and guiding alemtuzumab therapy. Am J Clin Pathol 2012 Mar;137(3):403-11

Date

02/18/2012

Pubmed ID

22338052

DOI

10.1309/AJCP7QHH5XASTJPL

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-84859238276 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   23 Citations

Abstract

Flow cytometry (FC) is frequently used to detect aberrant peripheral blood (PB) T cells ("Sézary cells") in patients with mycosis fungoides (MF) and Sézary syndrome (SS). However, immunophenotypic stability of MF/SS over time is not well characterized. We analyzed 141 PB samples from 9 cases (2 SS, 7 MF). At diagnosis, there were 3 to 5 immunophenotypic aberrancies per case (median, 4), including dim or absent CD2, CD3, CD4, CD5, CD7, or CD26 and bright CD45RO. Of 9 patients, 7 had a subsequent change in immunophenotype. All patients retained multiple aberrancies at follow-up (median, 3 per analysis; range, 2-6), of which 22.0% (81/369) were new. In 5 patients, a more than 99% decrease in absolute Sézary cell (ASC) counts by FC after alemtuzumab therapy or total skin electron beam radiation was associated with clinical improvement. We observed minor immunophenotypic changes over time in most patients with MF/SS; however, the Sézary clones maintain persistently aberrant immunophenotypes and seem amenable to follow-up with limited FC panels. ASC counts by FC correlated well with clinical response.

Author List

Vaughan J, Harrington AM, Hari PN, Kroft SH, Olteanu H

Authors

Parameswaran Hari MD Adjunct Professor in the Medicine department at Medical College of Wisconsin
Alexandra M. Harrington MD Professor in the Pathology department at Medical College of Wisconsin
Steven Howard Kroft MD Chair, Professor in the Pathology department at Medical College of Wisconsin




MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Alemtuzumab
Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized
Antibodies, Neoplasm
Antineoplastic Agents
Biomarkers, Tumor
Blood Cell Count
Drug Monitoring
Female
Flow Cytometry
Humans
Immunophenotyping
Male
Middle Aged
Mycosis Fungoides
Sezary Syndrome