Mycosis fungoides is the most common of the cutaneous T-cell lymphomas. Most people who have mycosis fungoides will have the rash over many years. Approximately 1000 new cases of MF occur per year. MF occurs more frequently in men than in women is more common in black people than in whites. Mycosis fungoides can begin at any age, but the most common age is 50 years old. Molecular analysis looking for rearrangement of the T cell receptors can be done but the yield of these studies is directly related to the number of atypical lymphocytes. Disease may also progress, to involve nodes, blood and internal organs, or transform into a higher-grade lymphoma.
A common cause of death during the tumor phase is sepsis from Pseudomonas aeruginosa or Staphylococcus aureus caused by chronic skin infection with staph species and subsequent systemic infections. Mycosis fungoides progresses in stages, which are defined by the skin symptoms. Skin tumors phase ,skin redness (erythroderma) stage and lymph node stage. Mycosis fungoides can be treated in a variety of ways. Common treatments include simple sunlight, ultraviolet light, topical steroids, topical and systemic chemotherapies, local superficial radiotherapy, total skin electron beam radiation, and biological therapies.
Nitrogen mustard, a chemotherapy drug, is sometimes applied to the skin to control mycosis fungoides. If mycosis fungoides is in the early stage, treatments such as steroid creams, chemotherapy applied to the skin, or electron beam radiation may be used. Bone marrow transplantation is used to replace the bone marrow with healthy bone marrow. Biological therapy tries to get the body to fight cancer. It uses materials made by the body or made in a laboratory to boost, direct, or restore the body’s natural defenses against disease. Chemotherapy may be taken by pill, or it may be put into the body by a needle in a vein or muscle. Corticosteroids were frequently used in the past, but may result in further immune compromise and do not lead to long-term complete remissions.
Mycosis Fungoides – Prevention and Treatment Tips:
1. Bone marrow transplantation is used to replace the bone marrow with healthy bone marrow.
2. Radiation therapy uses high-energy rays to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors.
3. Chemotherapy uses drugs to kill cancer cells.
4. Phototherapy uses light to kill cancer cells.
5. Biological therapy tries to get the body to fight cancer.
6. Corticosteroids were frequently useful treatment for mycosis fungoides.
