Risk of secondary cutaneous malignancies in patients with long-standing mycosis fungoides.

BACKGROUND

Patients with mycosis fungoides (MF) are frequently treated with UV light and psoralen (PUVA), nitrogen mustard, and electron beam irradiation, modalities known to predispose persons to development of cutaneous malignancies.

OBJECTIVE

We assessed the relation between these therapeutic modalities and the development of secondary cutaneous malignancies.

METHODS

We reviewed the charts of all patients observed during the past year.

RESULTS

We found that 7 of 71 patients had cutaneous neoplasms in an average follow-up time of 8.3 years. Orthovoltage radiation was used in five of seven cases and PUVA in four of seven. Five of seven patients had multiple neoplasms.

CONCLUSION

The risk of the development of second malignancies from the treatment of MF is relatively small and appears to be related to the type of therapy.