1. ^*INSERM U448, Hôpital Henri Mondor, Créteil, France
2. ^†Department of Dermatology, Hôpital Henri Mondor, Créteil, France
3. ^‡Department of Dermatology, Clermont-Ferrand, France
4. ^§Department of Dermatology, Rouen, France
5. ^¶Dipartimento di Medicina Sperimentale, Università di Genova, Genova, Italy. French Cutaneous Lymphoma Study Group

Correspondence: Dr Ewa Poszepczynska-Guigné, 51, avenue du Maréchal-de-Lattre-de-Tassigny, 94010 Créteil Cedex, France. Email: ewa.guigne@libertysurf.fr

¹Contributed equally as senior authors.

Received 1 July 2003; Revised 9 October 2003; Accepted 22 October 2003; Published online 23 March 2004.

Abstract

CD158k molecules belong to the family of killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIR) that are expressed on a minor population of circulating NK and CD8+ T lymphocytes. Here, we report a strong positive correlation between the percentage of CD158k+ blood lymphocytes analyzed by flow cytometry and the percentage of atypical circulating cells (Sezary cells) determined by cytomorphology in a large group of patients with Sezary syndrome. Moreover, we show that circulating CD4+CD158k+ lymphocytes correspond to the malignant clonal cell population. Our findings suggest that the CD158k marker could be a useful tool for the evaluation of the circulating tumoral burden and the follow-up of patients with Sezary syndrome.