Controversies and discussion on early diagnosis of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. Phenotyping.

Immunophenotypic studies have provided considerable information about cell characteristics in cutaneous T-cell lymphomas (CTCL) and have revealed many differences between early and advanced lesions. By contrast, consistent differences between early and CTCL and inflammatory lesions have not been seen. It is likely that early CTCL contain only few neoplastic cells which cannot be recognized by immunohistology with currently available antibodies.