title: Does the new staging system proposed for mycosis fungoides and Sézary syndrome provide reliable agreement for T1 and T2 disease?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Patch or plaque stages in mycosis fungoides (MF) have different prognoses. The recent staging system proposed for MF discriminates between patches and plaques based upon clinical features.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To estimate interdermatologist agreement on the morphological evaluation of MF lesions.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-four patients with MF were enrolled. Two dermatologists evaluated every lesion face to face and independently with respect to the patch-plaque status. Cohen's κ was used to determine the rate of agreement.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Agreement was 67% with respect to the patch or plaque status [95% confidence interval (CI) = 49-85%; p < 0.001]. Current systemic treatment (56%; p = 0.01) was associated with lower agreement. Younger age at diagnosis [odds ratio (OR) 1.03 (95% CI 1.02-1.05)], younger age at enrolment [OR 1.03 (95% CI 1.02-1.04)] and time on systemic treatment [OR 1.02 (95% CI 1.01-1.04)] were independent risk factors for disagreement (p < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The new system for MF staging carries a significant risk of disagreement regarding patch and plaque subsets.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Hospital Universitario Nuestra Señora de Candelaria, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain.
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fernández-de-Misa
authors.forename: Buenaventura
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hernández Machín
authors.forename: Armando
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aguirre-Jaime
authors.forename: Lina Inmaculada
authors.initials: LI
authors.lastname: Pérez-Méndez
authors.forename: Yeray
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Peñate
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Suárez Hernández
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009182:Mycosis Fungoides / Q000473:pathology*; D009367:Neoplasm Staging / Q000379:methods*; D011379:Prognosis; D012751:Sezary Syndrome / Q000473:pathology*; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*