To further characterize CD164 as a potential biomarker for malignant CD4<sup>+</sup> T cells, CD164<sup>+</sup> and CD164<sup>-</sup>CD4<sup>+</sup> T cells isolated from patients with high-circulating tumor burden, B2 stage, and medium/low tumor burden, B1-B0 stage, were assessed for the expression of genes reported to differentiate SS from normal controls, and associated with malignancy and poor prognosis.
Our results suggest that CD164 can serve as a marker for diagnosis and for monitoring progression of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL)/SS and that FCRL3 expression correlates with a high circulating tumor burden.