Effectiveness of once weekly total skin electron beam therapy in mycosis fungoides and Sezary syndrome.

During the past eight years, 137 patients with mycosis fungoides were given total skin electron beam therapy (TSEB) using 2.5 to 4 MeV electrons. A single treatment delivers 400 rads to the entire skin surface, and patients are treated once a week for six to eight consecutive weeks. All have been followed for a median of 18 months (range 6-103 months). Although approximately 80 to 90% of the total population were in the advanced stages of the disease and had been previously treated elsewhere, cutaneous lesions and associated symptoms were effectively controlled. The remission lasted 6 to 103 months (median 19 months) after beginning the therapy for 109 mycosis fungoides patients, who were at risk for 12-103 months (median 24 months). Erythroderma and circulating Sezary cells adversely affected the duration of remission and indicate extracutaneous dissemination. Lymphocyte responsiveness to various mitogens and antigens correlated well with duration of the remission that was obtained from a course of TSEB.