270 P. Schwingshackl et al. may escape immune surveillance by altering tumour immunity (17). The aim of the study was to analyse in more detail the distribution and maturation status of DCs in MF and Sézary syndrome and to characterize DCs subsets, which have as yet been incompletely studied in these disease entities. To determine DC distribution and quantity, immunolabelled cryostat sections of patients’ lesions were compared with normal human skin from healthy donors. Also, morphological features were noted. Furthermore, the intra-or peritumoural localization, and the correlation between clinical stage and histological intensity of the infiltrate and DC density were analysed. Finally, staining with dendritic cell maturation markers DC-LAMP/CD208, a lysosome-associated membrane glycoprotein, expression of which increases progressively during in vitro DC-differentiation and upon activation with pro-inflammatory stimuli (18), and CD83, one of the most utilized cell surface markers for fully mature DCs (19) was performed to determine their state of maturation and thus to better judge their potential role in the anti-tumour response.