Photopheresis in Early-stage Mycosis Fungoides

The THERAKOS® CELLEX Photopheresis System is currently FDA approved and indicated for the palliative treatment of the skin manifestations of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) in patients not responsive to other forms of treatment. The original studies in CTCL were performed in patients having extensive patch/plaque or erythrodermic stage disease. Therefore, photopheresis is used primarily to treat stage III or IV CTCL. However, studies have shown that 50% of patients with early disease may have clonal T-cells in their peripheral blood if polymerase chain reaction is used to amplify the T-cell receptor gamma gene fragments. Thus, patients who are staged as T1 or T2 who also have slight abnormalities in blood involvement, such as atypical cells seen on blood smear or abnormal flow cytometry may benefit from photopheresis therapy. This study aims to investigate the efficacy of photopheresis therapy in patients with Stage !A, 1B, or IIA CTCL.