Neha Mehta-Shah, MD, Medical Oncologist at Washington University St. Louis, provides an overview of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL), discusses management options, and addresses quality-of-life concerns.
CTCL is a rare group of malignancies that attack the body’s immune lymphatic system, affecting both B-cells and T-cells. Whereas the B-lymphocytes act to neutralize the pathogens, the main job of the T-lymphocytes is to attach to these foreign cells, viruses, or cancerous growths, and directly destroy them. The underlying cause of CTCL is not fully understood. Genetic causes are suspected but these issues appear to be sporadic mutations for the most common forms of CTCL.
The annual incidence of CTCL is 6.4 cases per 1 million people and the risk in men is twice the risk for women. The likelihood of disease increases with age with the median age at onset of 50 years. However, CTCL can affect children in rare cases.
Common symptoms include skin manifestations such as red, scaly patches that grow over time, severe pruritus, pain in affected areas, generalized lymphadenopathy, opportunistic infections, alopecia, and enlargement of liver or spleen.
Diagnosing CTCL can be challenging, leading to significant delays in diagnosis and subsequent treatment. This is often due to the variability in how patients present with the condition and its various subtypes.
There are a variety of treatment options available for CTCL. In addition to pharmacologic approaches, several other types of interventions have been used successfully, including radiation therapy, phototherapy, extracorporeal photopheresis, and in some cases, stem-cell transplant. It is typically preferred to choose treatments that have low risk of side effects in these patients, whose quality-of-life concerns are central to the condition.
To learn more, visit our CTCL Learning Page.
