Psychological Distress, Symptom Burden and Quality of Life in Patients with Mycosis Fungoides and Sézary Syndrome.

Abstract

Mycosis fungoides (MF) and Sézary syndrome (SS) are rare cutaneous lymphomas with limited data on psychological burden. This observational, cross sectional questionnaire study assessed symptom burden, psychological distress and quality of life (QoL) in patients with MF and SS in Western Sweden and compared outcomes with psoriasis. Sixty patients were included, 80% with early-stage disease. Most reported minimal depression, anxiety and QoL impairment. Moderate-to-severe depression occurred in 36% of advanced disease cases and 16% of early disease cases and moderate-to-severe QoL impairment in 33% and 17%, respectively. Pruritus correlated strongly with impaired QoL (ρ=0.67, p<0.001). Fatigue correlated with depression (Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale Self-report (MADRS-S): ρ=0.60, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale-Depression subscale: ρ=0.63), anxiety (ρ=0.49) and QoL impairment (ρ=0.53), all p<0.001. Compared with psoriasis, patients reported lower pain and QoL impairment. Overall, psychological burden was limited but increased with advanced disease and fatigue severity.