Mycosis fungoides: cutaneous T-cell lymphoma

Abstract

Most patients with mycosis fungoides are between 40 and 60 years of age. The disease has three clinical stages: (1) the premycotic, or patch, stage, consisting of macular, scaling, faint pink to red pruritic patches, usually on unexposed surfaces; (2) the mycotic, or plaque, stage, consisting of reddish, purple-brown plaques, often annular in shape and symmetric in distribution, and (3) the tumor stage, consisting of red-brown to violaceous, dome-shaped, firm tumors with a predilection for the face and body folds. The Sézary syndrome is a leukemic variant. Treatment depends on the extent of disease and includes topical or systemic chemotherapy, radiotherapy and psoralen plus long-wave ultraviolet light therapy.