Treatment of mycosis fungoides with denileukin diftitox and oral bexarotene

Abstract

Cutaneous T-cell lymphomas, including mycosis fungoides and Sezary syndrome, are often responsive to treatment, but current therapies have not been shown to increase survival, and in advanced stages, durable remissions are hard to achieve. We present a patient who was initially misdiagnosed with psoriasis and, 16 years later, was diagnosed with mycosis fungoides. Denileukin diftitox was used as a tumor debulking agent to give a partial response that was further improved with a combination of systemic interferon/oral bexarotene and skin-directed psorlen plus UV-A. The purpose of this case report is to show the value of sequential combination therapy for improving overall response.