[Acyclovir in mycosis fungoides and lymphomatoid papulosis]

A survey is given on 23 patients (10 of our own, 13 reported in personal communications and in the literature) suffering from lymphoproliferative diseases and treated with acyclovir (ACV). In 5 patients (3 of 18 with cutaneous T-cell lymphomas, 2 of 5 with lymphomatoid papulosis) partial remission could be achieved. Since herpes simplex virus, cytomegalovirus and viruses like Epstein-Barr and varicella-zoster do not play an etiologic role and since HTLV-I virus, due to its lack of thymidine kinase, cannot activate ACV, the following mechanisms should be discussed regarding the possible effectiveness of ACV in lymphoproliferative diseases: a direct cytopathic effect; activation of ACV by the thymidine kinase of viruses not yet detected in cutaneous lymphoproliferative disorders; ACV activation by cellular thymidine kinase, which has been found to be elevated in lymphoproliferative disorders. Preliminary clinical observations suggest that ACV may exhibit an antiproliferative effect intravenously in some patients with lymphomatoid papulosis.