Granulomatous mycosis fungoides and granulomatous slack skin: a multicenter study of the Cutaneous Lymphoma Histopathology Task Force Group of the European Organization For Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC).

Background: Granulomatous cutaneous T-cell lymphomas (CTCLs) are rare and represent a diagnostic challenge. Only limited data on the clinicopathological and prognostic features of granulomatous CTCLs are available. We studied 19 patients with granulomatous CTCLs to further characterize the clinicopathological, therapeutic, and prognostic features.

Isolation and phenotypic characterization of mucosal nasal lymphocytes by direct ex vivo analysis.

Cellular inflammation of the nasal mucosa demonstrates a local immune response which plays an important role in allergic rhinitis. The aim of the present study was to characterize nasal mucosal lymphocytes regarding their activation and differentiation state by direct ex vivo flowcytometric analysis. Lymphocytes from the inferior turbinates were isolated by a mechanical method of preparation and, for comparison, from peripheral blood by Ficoll gradient centrifugation.

Phase 1 evaluation of intralesionally injected TLR9-agonist PF-3512676 in patients with basal cell carcinoma or metastatic melanoma.

Synthetic oligodeoxynucleotides (ODNs), such as PF-3512676, that contain unmethylated cytosine-guanine motifs (CpG ODN) have been identified as highly potent immune activators by in vitro examinations and in murine models. CpG ODNs induce innate and adaptive immune responses by triggering Toll-like receptor 9 expressed by human B cells and plasmacytoid dendritic cells. A phase 1 study was initiated to investigate safety, tolerability, serum cytokine levels, cellular immune responses, and clinical activity of intralesional treatment with PF-3512676 in patients with basal cell carcinoma (BCC) or cutaneous or subcutaneous melanoma metastases.

Morphometry of human terminal and vellus hair follicles.

Previous studies suggest that drug delivery systems based on particles can be used to deposit active compounds in hair follicles and to target hair follicle-associated cell populations. The development of application protocols is complicated by the fact that there is no information available on the size and the position of key target structures in the different hair follicle types and their intra- and interindividual variation. Therefore, we performed morphometric measurements on histological sections of human terminal (THF) and vellus hair follicles (VHF) from the scalp and the retroauricular region.

Large primary meningeal melanoma in an adult patient with neurocutaneous melanosis.

Neurocutaneous melanosis is often associated with melanoma of the central nervous system. Due to the inconspicuously looking cutaneous melanosis additional examinations are often not performed. We describe a patient with cutaneous melanosis who presented with neurological symptoms due to a large primary meningeal melanoma.