New publication in the British Journal of Dermatology

In our latest publication, we used Swedish register data to investigate real-world outcomes in patients with mycosis fungoides or Sézary syndrome. These are two types of cutaneous T-cell lymphomas, a very rare group of malignancies that affect approximately 8 in 1 million people each year — making this a particularly challenging disease to study. The study includes data on 643 adult patients with mycosis fungoides or Sézary syndrome.

The most interesting part of this project was studying a rare and clinically heterogeneous patient group for which previous high-quality, population-based data is limited. Using the comprehensive Swedish national registers helped address this gap. One challenge was to develop a proxy for disease severity, as information on TNMB staging was not available in the registers.

The key takeaway is that lymphoma is the leading cause of death in patients with mycosis fungoides or Sézary syndrome, especially among those with severe disease. Although infection-related mortality in this patient population is relatively low in absolute terms, it is higher than in the general population. The study underscores the clinical heterogeneity in this patient population, as mild cases tend to have much better outcomes.