Suggested treatments include light therapy, ultraviolet light (mainly NB-UVB 312 nm), topical steroids, topical and systemic chemotherapies, local superficial radiotherapy, the histone deacetylase inhibitor vorinostat, total skin electron radiation, photopheresis, systemic therapies (e.g. retinoids, rexinoids), and biological therapies (e.g. interferons). Treatments are often used in combination. Due to the possible adverse effects of treatment options in early disease it is recommended to begin therapy with topical and skin-directed treatments before progressing to more systemic therapies. In 2010, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted orphan drug designation for naloxone lotion, a topical opioid receptor competitive antagonist used as a treatment for pruritus in cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. Mogamulizumab is a CCR4 monoclonal antibody which has been shown to improve progression-free survival. It was approved by the US FDA in 2018 for use in people with relapsed or refractory mycosis fungoides or Sézary disease.There is no evidence to support the use of acitretin or extracorporeal photopheresis (ECP: a type of phototherapy) for treating people with mycosis fungoides. There is also no evidence to support the combination treatment of PUVA and intralesional IFN-α or PUVA and bexarotene. Children
Treatment for adults and children with mycosis fungoides often differs because of the safety profiles of modalities. Narrowband UV-B is commonly considered for children, as opposed to Psoralen with UV-A, mechlorethamine hydrochloride, or oral bexarotene, which is often used in adults. Prognosis
A 1999 US-based study of people with CLLs medical records observed a 5-year relative survival rate of 77%, and a 10-year relative survival rate of 69%.
After 11 years, the observed relative survival rate remained around 66%. Poorer survival is correlated with advanced age and black race. Superior survival was observed for married women compared with other gender and marital-status groups. The complete remission rate in children is nearly 30%. Epidemiology
It is rare for mycosis fungoides to appear before age 20; the average age of onset is between 45 and 55 years of age for people with patch and plaque disease only, but is over 60 for people who present with tumours, erythroderma (red skin) or a leukemic form (Sézary syndrome). Mycosis fungoides is more common in males than in females with differences in incidence across various racial groups reported in different studies. The incidence of mycosis fungoides was seen to be increasing between 2000 to 2020, although certain regions have demonstrated some stabilization. History
Mycosis fungoides was first described in 1806 by French dermatologist Jean-Louis-Marc Alibert. The name mycosis fungoides is very misleading—it loosely means "mushroom-like fungal disease". The disease, however, is not a fungal infection but rather a type of non-Hodgkins lymphoma. It was so named because Alibert described the skin tumors of a severe case as having a mushroom-like appearance. Culture and society
Notable cases
In 1995 actor Mr. T was diagnosed with a cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, or mycosis fungoides. Once in remission, he joked about the coincidence: "Can you imagine that? Cancer with my name on it — personalized cancer!" Popular British television actor Paul Eddington died of mycosis fungoides after living with the condition for four decades.