EORTC CLTF 2018 | ECP immunomodulation for cutaneous lymphoma: current & future perspectives
Extracorporeal photophoresis (ECP) is a very useful therapy option for cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. The benefits and future outlook for ECP are discussed here by Julia Scarisbrick, MBChB, FRCP, MD, of the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham, UK, at the European Organisation for the Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Cutaneous Lymphoma Task Force (CLTF) 2018 Congress, held in St. Gallen, Switzerland.
Transcript (edited for clarity)
For patients with erythrodermic mycosis fungoides (MF) or Sézary syndrome, and that’s the condition where they’re red all over, one of our early treatments that we choose is ECP or photopheresis. This was actually introduced by Richard Edelson way back in the 1980s, when we used to use phototherapy -or PUVA, for the skin and he thought, hang on, for these patients how about treating their blood? Because they have abnormal cells in their blood...
For patients with erythrodermic mycosis fungoides (MF) or Sézary syndrome, and that’s the condition where they’re red all over, one of our early treatments that we choose is ECP or photopheresis. This was actually introduced by Richard Edelson way back in the 1980s, when we used to use phototherapy -or PUVA, for the skin and he thought, hang on, for these patients how about treating their blood? Because they have abnormal cells in their blood.
So really then, photopheresis was born and since then, it’s gone under several changes. The latest machine is a CELLEX machine, which has been available since 2009, and effectively treats patients with erythrodermic MF and Sézary syndrome. It has a much quicker treatment time, so patients can be now treated within an hour, and is effective in about sixty percent of our patients, which is similar throughout the world.
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