Inactivation of the CDKN2A-CDKN2B locus has been reported in the most frequent subtypes of cutaneous T-cell lymphomas (CTCLs), mycosis fungoides, Sé zary syndrome (SS) and CD30 þ cutaneous anaplastic large cell lymphoma. To investigate whether genetic or epigenetic inactivation of CDKN2A-CDKN2B is more specifically observed in certain CTCL subtypes with clinical impact, we used array-comparative genomic hybridization, quantitative PCR, interphase fluorescent in situ hybridization and methylation analyses of p14 ARF p16 INK4A and p15 INK4B promoters. We studied 67 samples from 58 patients with either transformed mycosis fungoides (n ¼ 24), SS (n ¼ 16) or CD30 þ cutaneous anaplastic large cell lymphoma (n ¼ 18). We observed combined CDKN2A-CDKN2B deletion in both transformed mycosis fungoides (n ¼ 17, 71%) and SS patients (n ¼ 7, 44%), but, surprisingly, in only one CD30 þ cutaneous anaplastic large cell lymphoma case. Interphase fluorescent in situ hybridization showed 9p21 loss in 17 out of 19 cases, with 9p21 deletion indicating either hemizygous (n ¼ 4) or homozygous (n ¼ 2) deletion, with mixed patterns in most patients (n ¼ 11). The limited size of 9p21 deletion was found to account for false-negative detection by either BAC arrays (n ¼ 9) or fluorescent in situ hybridization (n ¼ 2), especially in patients with Sé zary syndrome (n ¼ 6). Methylation was found to be restricted to the p15 INK4B gene promoter in patients with or without 9p21 deletion and did not correlate with prognosis. In contrast, CDKN2A-CDKN2B genetic loss was strongly associated with a shorter survival in CTCL patients (P ¼ 0.002) and more specifically at 24 months in transformed mycosis fungoides and SS patients (P ¼ 0.02). As immunohistochemistry for p16 INK4A protein was not found to be informative, the genetic status of the CDKN2A-CDKN2B locus would be relevant in assessing patients with epidermotropic CTCLs in order to identify those cases where the disease was more aggressive. Keywords: array-based comparative genomic hybridization; cutaneous T-cell lymphoma; CDKN2A-CDKN2B; mycosis fungoides; Sé zary syndrome; 9p21 deletionThe cell cycle, and especially G1-S progression, is controlled by the p14 ARF -mdm2-p53 and p16 INK4A / p15 INK4B -Rb1 pathways (reviewed by Sharpless and DePinho 1 ). Both p16 INK4A and p15 INK4B proteins are able to induce cell-cycle arrest in the G1 phase by inhibiting the cyclin-dependent kinases CDK4-and CDK6-mediated phosphorylation of the retinoblastoma protein that is required for cell-cycle progression (reviewed by Barbacid et al 2 and Ortega et al 3 ). The p14 ARF protein mainly acts on the MDM2-p53 pathway, inducing either cell cycle arrest or apoptosis (reviewed by Sherr et al 4 and Gil and Peters 5 ).Interestingly, the p14 ARF , p16 INK4A and p15 INK4B proteins are encoded by the same CDKN2A-CDKN2B locus on the chromosomal band 9p21: