What is Hematodermic Neoplasm?
Hematodermic Neoplasm is a rare cancer that involves the skin and is also known as blastic natural killer cell lymphoma. These consists of CD4 and CD56 immune cells, CD4 cells are the white blood cells that fight against viruses, bacteria, and other disease-causing agents which enters the body. CD56 present on the surface of muscles and nerve cells and also fights against infection-causing agents. Hematodermic neoplasm has a poor prognosis (likely the course of the disease).Disease Etiology (causes)
It is rare cancer and most commonly develops in the older population. It usually involves the skin at diagnosis but spread to bone marrow and other parts of the body is rapidly. The mean age for the development of hematodermic neoplasm is 61-67 years but can occur at any age.Signs and Symptoms
The patient usually has skin manifestations at diagnosis. These are- Multiple skin lesions on the face, arms, legs, and trunk
- The appearance of multiple red or purplish nodules on the skin
- Enlargement of the lymph nodes
Diagnosis
Serological, radiological, and biopsy investigations are useful to diagnose. These are:- Complete blood count (CBC) with peripheral smear and blood culture
- Blood coagulation profile
- LFT’s(Liver function tests) and RFT’s( Renal function tests)
- Skin and bone marrow biopsy
- Chest X-ray, CT chest
- Immunohistochemistry
- EBV antibody test