Real-life barriers to diagnosis of early mycosis fungoides: an international expert panel discussion (vol 24, pg 5, 2023)

Hodak, E.; Geskin, L.; Guenova, E.; Ortiz-Romero, P.L.; Willemze, R.; Zheng, J.; Cowan, R.; Foss, F.; Mangas, C.; Querfeld, C.

doi:doi:10.1007/s40257-023-00766-8

Mycosis fungoides (MF) is a rare type of cancer that involves the skin. Symptoms may vary between patients and MF can be mistaken for other skin conditions. This means that MF can be difficult to diagnose, and doctors may not send patients to specialist clinics straightaway. As a result, there is often a long delay before patients receive appropriate treatment. This delay can cause anxiety for patients who may not receive treatment before the disease gets worse, or may be treated for the wrong condition. It has become clear that more education is needed to increase doctors' awareness of MF and its symptoms. A panel of specialists in the diagnosis and treatment of MF discussed the steps needed to help doctors quickly suspect and correctly determine that a patient has MF. This review summarizes the advice from these experts. To confirm a diagnosis of MF, doctors need to carefully examine a patient for symptoms, including patches of abnormal skin (often called lesions), and take biopsy...Show moreMycosis fungoides (MF) is a rare type of cancer that involves the skin. Symptoms may vary between patients and MF can be mistaken for other skin conditions. This means that MF can be difficult to diagnose, and doctors may not send patients to specialist clinics straightaway. As a result, there is often a long delay before patients receive appropriate treatment. This delay can cause anxiety for patients who may not receive treatment before the disease gets worse, or may be treated for the wrong condition. It has become clear that more education is needed to increase doctors' awareness of MF and its symptoms. A panel of specialists in the diagnosis and treatment of MF discussed the steps needed to help doctors quickly suspect and correctly determine that a patient has MF. This review summarizes the advice from these experts. To confirm a diagnosis of MF, doctors need to carefully examine a patient for symptoms, including patches of abnormal skin (often called lesions), and take biopsy samples from these lesions for pathology testing. The experts created 2 easy-to-use checklists to help doctors recognize signs of MF and decide which patients should be seen by a specialist. This expert advice together with the checklists can enable doctors to diagnose MF sooner and allow patients to receive the most appropriate treatment as early as possible.Show less

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Real-life barriers to diagnosis of early mycosis fungoides: an international expert panel discussion (vol 24, pg 5, 2023)