Treatment of erythrodermic cutaneous T-cell lymphoma with extracorporeal photochemotherapy.

BACKGROUND

This original cohort of patients with erythrodermic cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) was reported to have clinical improvement with photopheresis during the 12 months of the original study. No long-term follow-up data have been available to examine the impact of this therapy on the disease.

OBJECTIVE

Our purpose was to provide long-term follow-up on the original 29 erythrodermic CTCL patients treated with photopheresis and to compare these results with historical controls.

METHODS

Files of patients from the original photopheresis study centers were reviewed and their current status was documented.

RESULTS

The median survival of the treated patients was 60.33 months from the date of diagnosis and 47.9 months from the date of the start of photopheresis therapy. A complete remission has been maintained in four of the six patients who achieved complete responses in the original study. The best responses were seen in patients with a lower CD4/CD8 ratio in the peripheral blood at the start of therapy.

CONCLUSION

Photopheresis can influence the natural history of erythrodermic CTCL by inducing remissions and prolonging survival with minimal toxicity.