Primary and secondary cutaneous CD30(+) lymphoproliferative disorders: a report from the Dutch Cutaneous Lymphoma Group on the long-term follow-up data of 219 patients and guidelines for diagnosis and treatment

To evaluate our diagnostic and therapeutic guidelines, clinical and long-term follow-up data of 219 patients with primary or secondary cutaneous CD30(+) lymphoproliferative disorders were evaluated. The study group included 118 patients with lymphomatoid papulosis (LyP; group 1), 79 patients with primary cutaneous CD30(+) large T-cell lymphoma (LTCL; group 2), 11 patients with CD30(+) LTCL and skin and regional lymph node involvement (group 3), and 11 patients with secondary cutaneous CD30(+) LTCL (group 4). Patients with LyP often did not receive any specific treatment, whereas most patients with primary cutaneous CD30(+) LTCL were treated with radiotherapy or excision. All patients with skin-limited disease from groups 1 and 2 who were treated with multiagent chemotherapy had 1 or more skin relapses. The calculated risk for systemic disease within 10 years of diagnosis was 4% for group 1, 16% for group 2, and 20% for group 3 (after initial therapy). Disease-related 5-year-survival rates were 100% (group 1), 96% (group 2), 91% (group 3), and 24% (group 4), respectively. The results confirm the favorable prognoses of these primary cutaneous CD30(+) lymphoproliferative disorders and underscore that LyP and primary cutaneous CD30(+) lymphomas are closely related conditions. They also indicate that CD30(+) LTCL on the skin and in 1 draining lymph node station has a good prognosis similar to that for primary cutaneous CD30(+) LTCL without concurrent lymph node involvement. Multiagent chemotherapy is only indicated for patients with full-blown or developing extracutaneous disease; it is never or rarely indicated for patients with skin-limited CD30(+) lymphomas. (Blood. 2000;95:3653-3661)