Mycosis fungoides natural history, complications and prognosis

Cutaneous T cell lymphoma Microchapters
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Patient Information
Overview
Classification Mycosis fungoides Sezary syndrome
Pathophysiology

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Sowminya Arikapudi, M.B,B.S. [2]

Overview

If left untreated, cutaneous T cell lymphoma may progress to develop cutaneous patches, plaque, and tumors. Depending on the extent of the lymphoma at the time of diagnosis, the prognosis may vary.

Natural History

• Mycosis fungoides is initially an indolent lymphoma that may later develop peripheral lymphadenopathy and can finally progress to widespread visceral involvement.
• Cutaneous T cell lymphoma is usually initially seen by dermatologists with patients presenting with skin lesions.
• Patients often have a history of several years of eczematous or dermatitic skin lesions before the diagnosis is finally established.
• The skin lesions then progress from the patch stage to the plaque stage to cutaneous tumors.

Prognosis

• Cutaneous T cell lymphoma is usually a slow-growing (indolent) lymphoma.
• The prognosis for people with cutaneous T cell lymphoma is based on the extent of disease and how the person responds to treatment.
• Although more advanced stages of cutaneous T cell lymphoma may not be cured, the lymphoma can still be controlled with treatment.

Favorable prognosis

• Early stage disease
• Lymphoma is confined to the skin

Unfavorable prognosis

• More advanced disease
• Lymphoma has spread to lymph nodes
• Lymphoma has spread to other organs

Staging

The staging of cutaneous T cell lymphoma is based on skin and lymph node involvement. Staging for cutaneous T cell lymphoma is provided in the following table:

Staging of cutaneous T cell lymphoma

Stage	Involvement
stage I
I A	Less than 10% of the skin is covered with patches or plaques
I B	10% or more of the skin is covered with patches or plaques
stage II
II A	Any amount of the skin is covered in patches or plaques Lymph nodes are enlarged, but do not contain cancer
II B	There is one or more raised tumors on the skin Lymph nodes may or may not be enlarged and do not contain cancer
stage III
III	Almost all of the skin is reddened There may or may not be patches, plaques or skin tumors Lymph nodes may or may not be enlarged and do not contain cancer
stage IV
IV A	Cancer has spread to the lymph nodes, but not to other organs in the body
IV B	Cancer has spread to other organs in the body, including the blood and bone marrow Lymph nodes may be enlarged and may contain cancer

References

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