Profile of mycosis fungoides in 43 Saudi patients

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVESMycosis fungoides (MF) is a rare disease; and to our knowledge, there are no reports on its profile in Arabs. The objective of this study was to preliminarily analyze the clinical characteristics of MF patients seen in our institution.DESIGN AND SETTINGRetrospective review of 140 patients with pathologic or clinical diagnosis or differential diagnosis of MF for the period 2000–2006.PATIENTS AND METHODSPathology reports with diagnosis or differential diagnosis of MF were retrieved and suspected cases were identified and reviewed. For pathologically confirmed cases, sociodemographic, clinical, laboratory, and radiological details were collected. Details of staging, treatment modalities, and disease status at the last follow-up were retrieved.RESULTSA total of 43 pathologically confirmed MF patients (skin phototypes IV and V) with a mean age at diagnosis of 33.5 years were reviewed. This comprised 29 males (M:F ratio, 2:1), and the majority (86%) of patients had early-stage (I and II) MF. Twenty-one (48.8%) patients had classic MF; 18 (41.8%), hypopigmented MF; and 4 (9.3%), other variants. The male-to-female ratio was higher in the hypopigmented (3.5:1) than in the classic variant (1.6:1). The mean age at diagnosis was lower in the hypopigmented compared to the classic variant (25 versus 38.8 years, P=.019). The mean duration of follow-up was 27.6 months (range, 1–98 months). At the final assessment, 4 (9.5%) patients recovered; whereas 35 (83.3%) had MF skin disease; 1 had (2.4%) extracutaneous disease; and 2 (4.8%) died of MF.CONCLUSIONSMF tends to affect younger Saudi patients. The hypopigmented variant constitutes a significant proportion of MF cases, especially in younger patients.

Demographic patterns of cutaneous T‐cell lymphoma incidence in Texas based on two different cancer registries

“…Previous epidemiologic studies based on the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) databases established that CTCL is on the rise in the United States and around the world . Similarly, a recent increase in these cancers has been identified in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, where MF often affects children and adolescents . Our findings suggest that geographic mapping of patients by various CTCL centers will reveal additional areas of geographic clustering.…”

Frequency of Hypopigmented Mycosis Fungoides in Egyptian Patients Presenting With Hypopigmented Lesions of the Trunk

“…The mean age of the HMF group (21.31 years) was close to that reported previously. 15,17,20 Although most of the encountered hypopigmented disorders in this study showed gradual onset, we found a progressive course, with increasing number of lesions, to be significantly associated with HMF, whereas a stationary course was significantly associated with postinflammatory hypopigmentation and small plaque parapsoriasis (hypopigmented type).…”

Hypopigmented mycosis fungoides in Egyptian patients

“…In an Arab population, AlGhamdi et al described hypopigmented MF in 18 Saudi patients and they also observed a common affection of males (M : F ratio was 3.5 : 1), a younger age of onset (mean of 25 years) and mean duration of disease was 27.6 months. In Kuwait, Alsaleh et al reported a total number of 37 Arab patients with hypopigmented MF and they also observed a younger mean age at diagnosis (26.6 years) but without a significant difference from non‐Arab patients.…”