Inefficacy of extracorporeal photochemotherapy in the treatment of B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia: preliminary results.

Because extracorporeal photopheresis has been shown to be clinically effective in Sezary syndrome, a disease characterized by a circulating malignant clone, we initiated a pilot study of its use in B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) to see if it could be similarly effective. We treated three patients with Rai stage III and IV B-CLL with photopheresis (3 consecutive days a week every 3 weeks) and followed serial clinical and immunologic parameters. While we noted no major toxicity, there was neither clinical response to treatment nor marked improvement in white counts or mitogen assays. We conclude that photopheresis was not effective in inducing remission in this pilot study of advanced stage B-CLL patients.