Chronic eosinophilic pneumonia associated with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma

✍ Scribed by Hirshberg, Boaz; Kramer, Mordechai R.; Lotem, Michal; Barak, Vivian; Shustin, Larisa; Amir, Gail; Ben-Yehuda, Dina; Ben-Yehuda, Arie

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 615 KB
• Volume: 60
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0361-8609
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1096-8652(199902)60:2<143::aid-ajh11>3.0.co;2-q

✦ Synopsis

Cutaneous T-cell lymphomas (CTCL) are diseases characterized by cutaneous infiltrates of malignant clonally expanded T cells. CTCL cells exhibit a cytokine profile consistent with T helper-2 type (TH 2 ) cells. Eosinophilic pneumonias are individual syndromes characterized by eosinophilic pulmonary infiltrates and commonly peripheral blood eosinophilia. CTCL and chronic eosinophilic pneumonia are rare clinical entities. We report a patient with the association of CTCL and chronic eosinophilic pneumonia. To understand the mechanism leading to the eosinophilia, we examined the patient's cytokine profile. This was consistent with a high TH 2 activity. Her interleukin (IL) 5, 6, and 10 levels were extremely high, while her IL-2 and interferon-␥ (IFN-␥) levels (TH 1 profile) were low. We believe that eosinophilic pneumonia in this patient is probably secondary to high TH 2 cytokine levels induced by tumor cells. We suggest that eosinophilic pneumonia should be considered as a possible diagnosis in patients with CTCL who have respiratory complaints.