Report Of Eleven Patients Of Subcutaneous Panniculitis-Like T-Cell Lymphoma: Clinicopathologic Features, F-18-Fdg Pet/Ct Findings And Outcome

Objectives Subcutaneous panniculitis-like T-cell lymphoma (SPTCL) is a fairly rare subtype of primary cutaneous lymphoma. This study aims to investigate the clinicopathologic features, F-18-FDG PET/CT findings, and outcome of patients with SPTCL. Methods A retrospective single-center study enrolled 11 patients with SPTCL between August 2010 and March 2020. A total of 26 F-18-FDG PET/CT scans were performed, and the initial and follow-up PET/CT imaging features, clinicopathologic and immunohistochemical characteristics, and outcome were analyzed. Results The male-to-female ratio was 1.2. The mean age at diagnosis was 24.2 years (age range: 13-48 years). Histopathological examinations revealed atypical T-lymphocyte rimming of individual subcutaneous adipocytes, mostly with CD2(+), CD3(+), CD4(-), CD5(+), CD8(+), CD56(-), T-cell intracellular antigen-1(+), Granzyme B+, and high Ki-67 index. Multiple large skin ulcerations with a maximum diameter of 10 cm were observed in one of the 11 patients (9.1%, 1/11), and hemophagocytic syndrome was found in another one. At initial PET/CT scans, the lesions in all 11 patients showed increased uptake of F-18-FDG with a wide range of maximum standard uptake value (SUVmax) from 2.0 to 14.9. The morphology of the lesions presented as multiple nodules and/or disseminated plaques mainly involving the trunk and/or limbs. Five patients had extracutaneous non-lymph node lesions with SUVmax of 5.6 +/- 2.8 on F-18-FDG PET/CT. No significant correlation between SUVmax and Ki-67 index was observed (r = 0.19, P > 0.05). Follow-up F-18-FDG PET/CT scans in six patients showed complete remission of the disease in two, partial remission in three, and progressive disease in one. During the follow-up period, there was no death except for the patient with multiple ulcerations who died 4 months after diagnosis of SPTCL. Conclusions SPTCL may be a group of heterogeneous diseases with varying degrees of F-18-FDG uptake. F-18-FDG PET/CT demonstrates its usefulness in detecting disease extent, providing diagnostic work-up, staging, and evaluating treatment response of SPTCL. Multiple large skin ulcerations may be a factor of poor prognosis for patients with SPTCL.