Purpose: To determine the effect of low-dose (4 Gy) total skin electron beam therapy as a second-line treatment of Stage IB-II mycosis fungoides in a prospective, open-label study.
Methods and materials: Ten patients (6 men, 4 women, average age 68.7 years [range, 55-82 years]) with histopathologically confirmed mycosis fungoides T2-T4 N0-N1 M0 who did not achieve complete remission or relapsed within 4 months after treatment with psoralen plus ultraviolet-A were included. Treatment consisted of low-dose total skin electron beam therapy administered at a total skin dose of 4 Gy given in 4 fractions over 4 successive days.
Results: Two patients had a complete clinical response but relapsed after 3.5 months. Six patients had partial clinical responses, with a mean duration of 2.0 months. One patient had no clinical response. Median time to relapse was 2.7 months. One patient died of unrelated causes and did not complete treatment. Acute side effects included desquamation, xerosis, and erythema of the skin. No severe side effects were observed.
Conclusion: Low-dose total skin electron beam therapy can induce complete and partial responses in Stage IB-II mycosis fungoides; however, the duration of remission is short. Low-dose total skin electron beam therapy may find application in palliative treatment of mycosis fungoides because of limited toxicity and the possibility of repeating treatments for long-term disease control.