Healthy Living

New Research Could Change Cutaneous Lymphoma Treatment

How new research could change treatment in Lymphoma

How new research could change treatment

Dr. Pedro Quaglino from the University of Turin Medical School in Italy has tried to tackle this challenge by conducting a study known as the early-stage Prospective Cutaneous Lymphoma International Prognostic Index trial. With the help of his colleagues, Dr. Quaglino looked at how different treatments for early mycosis fungoides fared in the long run. Because of how rare mycosis fungoides is, Dr. Quaglino has met this challenge by collecting data from 42 centers in 14 different countries. They hoped that they could identify patient factors that may affect the prognosis of the disease, and potentially highlight any particular existing therapies that prove to be superior above the rest. Their main focus is to not only find indicators of improved survival, but also the quality of life. 

Two years into data analysis, the research team has been able to track 472 patients. Out of these patients, 80.7 percent have the classic form of mycosis fungoides, while 15.7% have a rarer, folliculotropic type. They found that though the median age was 57 years, age increased as disease stage advanced. Only about one-third of the patients affected by this lymphoma were female. They plan to continue recruiting patients for up to 5 years during their study.