Mycosis fungoides: expression of C-myc p62 p53, bcl-2 and PCNA proteins and absence of association with Epstein-Barr virus.

The expression of C-myc p62, bcl-2, p53, PCNA and EBV-encoded LMP-1 proteins was studied by immunohistochemistry on paraffin-embedded skin specimens from 14 patients with early stage (premycotic erythema and second stage plaques) mycosis fungoides (MF), 21 patients with advanced stage MF (third stage plaques and tumors), 3 patients with Sezary's syndrome (SS) and 3 patients with pleomorphic medium and large cell cutaneous T-cell lymphomas (PML-CTCL). All 41 cases were also screened for the presence of EBV by using RNA in situ hybridization with EBER 1/2 oligonucleotides. Increased expression of C-myc p62, p53 and PCNA proteins was found in PML-CTCL and advanced stages of MF as compared to early stages of MF. These results suggest a relationship between levels of C-myc p62, p53 and PCNA proteins and aggressiveness of the cutaneous T-cell lymphomas. Furthermore, C-myc p62 and bcl-2 proteins were found to be frequently coexpressed in the present series. In view of the background information from in vitro findings and animal models that cooperation of C-myc and bcl-2 is important for lymphomagenesis, our results suggest that coexpression of these oncogenes may be implicated in the pathogenesis and/or the progression of cutaneous T-cell lymphomas. Neither LMP-1 expression nor EBV EBER l/2 transcripts were detected in our series suggesting that EBV is not involved in the pathogenesis of cutaneous T-cell lymphomas.