Dermatologic radiotherapy of primary cutaneous follicle center cell lymphoma

A retrospective study was performed to evaluate the results of dermatologic radiotherapy in a large series of patients affected by primary cutaneous B-cell lymphomas. The study included 104 patients with cutaneous follicle center cell lymphoma treated with orthovoltage radiotherapy from 1973 to 2000. The total doses ranged from 14 to 35 Gy (mean 23.55 Gy). Results regarded 102 patients (mean follow-up 65.08 months). Complete remission was observed in all cases; 76 patients experienced a relapse after a mean interval of 22.03 months following radiotherapy, with a relapse-free rate of 22.82 % after 5 years. Extracutaneous progression was observed in 9 cases (8.82 %). An overall actuarial survival rate of 97.36 % was observed after 5 years. A salvage treatment of relapses brought 44 cases to remission. Although we have observed a relapse-free rate lower than that reported by others, dermatologic radiotherapy was "curative" in 25.49 % of cases. Such treatment appears particularly useful in the cases with few lesions and in the management of new cutaneous localizations of follicular center cell lymphoma.