The treatment of 45 patients with cutaneous T‐cell lymphoma with low doses of interferon‐α2a and etretinate

Summary Forty-five patients with cutaneous T-cell lymphomas (CTCL), 32 with mycosis fungoides (MF) and 13 with Sezary syndrome (SS), were treated with interferon-α2a (IFN-α2a) (6–9 ± 10IU daily) for 3 months. Those responding to treatment were then treated with interferon-α alone (6–9 ± 106 IU three times weekly), and non-responders received a combination of etretinate(0·5 mg/kg/day) and IFN-α2a in similar concentrations. After 12 months of treatment, 28/ 45 patients (62–2%) were in complete or partial (>50%) remission. Of these. 17 (60±7%) were receiving IFN-α alone and II the combined interferon–retinoid therapy. Of the patients with MF stage I and II,20/25 were responders (12 receiving IFN-α alone and eight on combined therapy), whereas only 8/20 with Stage IV or SS responded to treatment (five receiving IFN-α2a alone and three combined therapy). These results suggest that the association of etretinate with low-dose recombinant IFN-α2a is an effective means of treating epidermotropic CTCL, particularly in the early stages.