title: Mycosis fungoides in patients under 20 years of age: report of 7 cases, review of the literature and study of the clinical course.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Mycosis fungoides (MF) is rare in young patients. Its clinical behavior is still uncertain, as some reports have suggested that it has a more aggressive course than does the adult-onset type.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To ascertain if early-onset MF represents a heterogeneous group of cutaneous T cell lymphomas.
  
  
  METHODS
  Clinical, immunohistopathological and follow-up data of early-onset (<20 years of age) MF cases reported in the literature (n = 42) plus 7 described herein were compared with those of a cohort of adult-onset MF patients (n = 252) diagnosed at our institution since 1975.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The majority of the 49 early-onset MF patients had patch-plaque stage disease at diagnosis. Ten had hypopigmented lesions. The predominant phenotype was CD3+ CD4+CD7-CD8-. Seven patients had a stage progression, 6 with extracutaneous involvement. Five- and 10-year survival rates were 93 and 74%, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  No statistically significant differences were found in the disease course between early- and adult-onset MF.
authors.affiliation: Section of Dermatology, Department of Medical and Surgical Specialties, University of Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Quaglino
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zaccagna
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Verrone
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Dardano
authors.forename: M G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Bernengo
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017668:Age of Onset; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D016130:Immunophenotyping; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D009182:Mycosis Fungoides / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology*; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology*