Cutaneous Langerhans cell histiocytosis of the genitalia in the elderly: a report of three cases

Abstract

Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) is a disease with a broad spectrum of clinical presentations. All of the variants have in common the proliferation of cells which are morphologically, biochemically, and immunophenotypically indistinguishable from Langerhans cells. A retrospective study of three eldetly patients revealed the unique presentation of cutaneous Langerhans cell histiocytosis limited to the genitalia. These cases produced a diagnostic challenge because of their unusual clinical presentation and their morphological similarity to certain other entities, including extramammary Paget's disease and malignant melanoma, which may also show S‐100‐positive atypical cells. All three cases showed infiltrates of histiocytic‐appearing cells with folded nuclei and moderate amounts of cytoplasm which involved the epidermis, dermis, or both. Immunoperoxidase studies using antibody to S‐100, CD1a and CD68 in each case showed positive staining.