Extracorporeal photopheresis for the treatment of Sézary syndrome using a novel treatment protocol.

Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Department of Pathology, Peter MacCallum Cancer Center, St Vincent's Hospital, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Parkville, Australia.

Various studies have reported that extracorporeal photopheresis is effective in producing meaningful responses in patients with Sézary syndrome. A single-center, 5-year retrospective analysis was performed on our patients with Sézary syndrome who received extracorporeal photopheresis using a novel protocol. Thirteen patients were treated with extracorporeal photopheresis consistently for a minimum of 2 months. All patients received a modified protocol of one treatment per week for 6 sessions, one session every 2 weeks for 6 sessions, and then one session per month. The overall response rate was 62%: two patients achieved a complete response and 6 patients achieved a partial response. The median time to response was 10 months. The 2- and 4-year predicted overall survivals were 82%. This study was limited by its retrospective nature and small sample size. Response and survival compare favorably with those of previous studies. Our modified treatment protocol appears to produce outcomes similar to the two-day protocol.

PMID: 18656282 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]