Mycosis fungoides is a malignant T-cell lymphoma of the skin, first reported (and named) by Alibert (1835). Sezary syndrome is a leukemic variant of mycosis fungoides defined by erythroderma with greater than 80% of the skin showing redness, adenopathy and greater than 1,000 circulating Sezary cells/microliter with a CD4+CD26- or CD4+CD7- phenotype. Sezary cells have a type 2 helper T cell cytokine profile. Sezary syndrome has a median overall survival time of only 2.4 years in patients with Sezary cells at a density of greater than 10,000 cells/microliter or 5.4 years in patients with 1,000-10,000 Sezary cells/microliter. Mycosis fungoides and Sezary syndrome are the most common cutaneous T-cell lymphomas. Sezary syndrome can arise de novo or can appear following years of chronic mycosis fungoides. Both are thought to arise from clonal expansion of CD4+ helper T cells responding to chronic antigen stimulation (summary by Wang et al., 2015).

Xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) is characterized by: Acute sun sensitivity (severe sunburn with blistering, persistent erythema on minimal sun exposure) with marked freckle-like pigmentation of the face before age two years; Sunlight-induced ocular involvement (photophobia, severe keratitis, atrophy of the skin of the lids, ocular surface neoplasms); Greatly increased risk of sunlight-induced cutaneous neoplasms (basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, melanoma) within the first decade of life. Approximately 25% of affected individuals have neurologic manifestations (acquired microcephaly, diminished or absent deep tendon stretch reflexes, progressive sensorineural hearing loss, progressive cognitive impairment, and ataxia). The most common causes of death are skin cancer, neurologic degeneration, and internal cancer. The median age at death in persons with XP with neurodegeneration (29 years) was found to be younger than that in persons with XP without neurodegeneration (37 years).

Hereditary progressive mucinous histiocytosis is a rare, benign, non-Langerhans cell histiocytosis characterized by childhood or adolescence onset of multiple, small, asymptomatic, slowly progressing, skin-colored to red-brown papules with predilection for the face, dorsal hands, forearms and legs, without associated mucosal or visceral involvement. Histologically, papules are well-circumscribed, unencapsulated, nodular aggregates of histiocytes with abundant mucin in the upper and middermis.

CYLD cutaneous syndrome (CCS) typically manifests in the second or third decade with the appearance of multiple skin tumors including cylindromas, spiradenomas, trichoepitheliomas, and rarely, membranous basal cell adenoma of the salivary gland. The first tumor typically develops at puberty and tumors progressively accumulate through adulthood. Females often have more tumors than males. Tumors typically arise on the scalp and face but can also arise on the torso and sun-protected sites, such as the genital and axillary skin. A minority of individuals develop salivary gland tumors. Rarely, pulmonary cylindromas can develop in large airways and compromise breathing. Although the tumors are usually benign, malignant transformation is recognized.

Trichothiodystrophy is a rare autosomal recessive disorder in which patients have brittle, sulfur-deficient hair that displays a diagnostic alternating light and dark banding pattern, called 'tiger tail banding,' under polarizing microscopy. TTD patients display a wide variety of clinical features, including cutaneous, neurologic, and growth abnormalities. Common additional clinical features are ichthyosis, intellectual/developmental disabilities, decreased fertility, abnormal characteristics at birth, ocular abnormalities, short stature, and infections. There are both photosensitive and nonphotosensitive forms of the disorder. Patients with TTD have not been reported to have a predisposition to cancer (summary by Faghri et al., 2008). For a discussion of genetic heterogeneity of TTD, see 601675.