Mycosis fungoides

If you're diagnosed with mycosis fungoides, the next step is to find out how much and where the cancer has spread. This is called the stage. Healthcare professionals may use imaging and biopsies to determine the stage by looking at how big the cancer is, its location and the distance it traveled from where it first started. Your healthcare team will take the disease stage into consideration when creating your treatment plan.

The stages of mycosis fungoides typically range from 1 to 4 and describe the extent the cancer affects the skin, lymph nodes, blood and organs. A higher stage number means the cancer is more advanced.

• Stage 1. Cancer is only in the skin. It appears as patches or thicker areas called plaques. The cancer may affect a small or larger portion of the skin but has not spread to lymph nodes, blood or other parts of the body.
• Stage 2. Cancer is still mainly in the skin but is more advanced. It may involve nearby lymph nodes or form tumors on the skin. It has not spread to other parts of the body, though small amounts of cancer cells may be found in the blood.
• Stage 3. Most of the skin becomes affected. There may be little or no cancer in the blood, or a low level may be present. Lymph nodes may be involved, but the cancer has not spread to other organs.
• Stage 4. Cancer is more advanced and is found in the blood, lymph nodes or other parts of the body, such as organs.