Mycosis Fungoides and Variants of Mycosis Fungoides: A Retrospective Study of 93 Patients in a Chinese Population at a Single Center

BACKGROUND: Mycosis fungoides (MF) is the most common types of cutaneous T cell lymphoma. It typically presents with erythematous patches and plaques in the early stage and tumors and extracutaneous involvement with possibly fatal outcomes in the late stage. To facilitate early and accurate diagnosis of MF, it is essential to be knowledgeable of classic and variants of this disease. However, there is limited published data in the Chinese population. OBJECTIVE: To characterize our patient group and to provide additional insight into these malignancies. METHODS: Patients diagnosed with mycosis fungoides and its variants from October 2012 to January 2018 were retrospectively analyzed. Disease-specific survival (DSS) rate and curve according to early and advanced stages were also calculated. RESULTS: The mean age at diagnosis of ninety-three MF patients was 38.9±1.73 years (range: 6~77). Forty-five males (48.4%) and 48 females (51.6 %) were included in this study. The DSS rate of early-stage MF was 98.6%, while that of advanced stage MF was 88.9%. There was a significant difference in DSS rate between early stage and advanced stage MF (p=00.042, log-rank test). The median age of 10 patients with hypopigmented MF (hMF) was 10.5 years (range: 6~28). The age of hMF was younger than that of classical MF patients (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Early-stage MF has a better prognosis than advanced stage and hMF affects younger people than classic MF among Chinese. This study provides an insight into mycosis fungoides and its variants in a Chinese population.