Von der morphologie zur molekularbiologie: Entwicklungen der dermatohistopathologie am beispiel des kutanen T-zell-lymphoms

In the beginning of the 19. century the first case reports of patients with cutaneous lymphomas were dominated by a detailed description of the clinical picture. Based on these clinical descriptions and the morphological dermatohistopathological examination of the "2. dimension" of the skin different subgroups of cutaneous lymphomas could be identified. In the late 70s of the 20. century diagnostic criteria were defined based on the morphological description of the clinical and histological features and the general term "cutaneous T-cell lymphoma" (CTCL) was established. Finally, with the help of newly introduced immunohistochemical markers a classification of CTCL was worked out by the EORTC and the WHO at the end of the 20. century. Molecular biology (TCR-Rearrangement) offers new insights into CTCL and increases the diagnostic safety especially of early-stage CTCL cases. In the future it will be possible to further improve the diagnosis, prognosis and therapy of CTCL by new discoveries regarding the "genetic morphology" (molecular genetics, microarray-technology) of this skin disease.