Mycosis fungoides in pediatric patients: Clinical features, diagnostic challenges, and advances in therapeutic management

Mycosis fungoides (MF) is the most common primary cutaneous lymphoma in pediatric patients. Given the indolent nature of MF, symptoms often present in childhood but may not be diagnosed as MF until adulthood. Delayed diagnosis is associated with poor long-term prognosis. Thus, increased clinician recognition and accurate diagnosis of early-stage MF in pediatric patients is critically important. In this review, we summarize the clinical features of the most common pediatric MF subtypes and highlight important differences between pediatric and adult MF. Moreover, we reviewed all pediatric MF case series published between 2008 and 2018 to analyze treatment modalities and identify emerging therapies. As treatment of pediatric MF is complex, selection of therapy varies significantly depending upon the specific clinical characteristics, disease severity, and patients' preferences.