How can CTCL be treated?

Once CTCL has been diagnosed, your doctor will consider both the stage of your disease and the symptoms you have, in order to determine the best treatment.

The goals of CTCL treatment are

• To improve skin symptoms
• To reduce redness and itching
• To slow or halt the progression of the disease

CTCL treatments can generally be divided into 2 main categories:⁷

• Therapies applied to the skin
• Therapies administered in the entire body—by mouth, under the skin, or intravenously

In the past 2 decades, several new therapies have become available to treat CTCL.

Keep in mind, that no single therapy is effective in all patients. Only your doctor can determine which treatment is best for you and the order in which you receive these treatments. Your doctor may also prescribe multiple treatments, including those listed below, to treat your CTCL. This list is not comprehensive; some therapies may not be listed below.

Therapies applied to the skin

• Ultraviolet (UV) phototherapy — A type of light is delivered to the skin to improve symptoms. This therapy can be administered either in a clinic or at home using a home light unit
  
  • Psoralen plus ultraviolet A (UVA) light (PUVA) — A medicine called a psoralen is given by mouth 90 minutes before UV phototherapy is begun. The medication makes the skin more sensitive to the light
• Topical retinoids (bexarotene gel) — A gel-based medication is applied to the affected skin to improve symptoms and reduce disease activity

Entire body (systemic)

• Bexarotene — These medications are related to vitamin A and are commonly used in addition to other therapies in skin diseases
• Denileukin diftitox — This medication, administered by injection into a blood vessel, targets abnormal cells in order to reduce symptoms and disease activity
• Extracorporeal photopheresis (ECP) with UVADEX^® (methoxsalen) Sterile Solution — Blood is removed from the body and treated with a medication and UVA light in order to reduce symptoms and disease activity. Although the medicine and the light are administered outside your body, the treatment is considered systemic because the treated blood is subsequently returned to your body. THERAKOS™ Photopheresis is another name for ECP
• Vorinostat — This medication, taken by mouth, has been shown to improve symptoms and reduce disease activity