Low-Dose MST-16/VP-16 Combination Chemotherapy in 9 Patients with Tumor Stage Mycosis Fungoides

MST-16 and VP-16, both of which are topoisomerase II inhibitors, are antitumor agents regularly used to treat malignant lymphoma and small cell lung carcinoma. New therapeutic agents for tumor stage mycosis fungoides (MF) have recently been developed, but their efficacy is limited. We herein retrospectively reported the use of MST-16/VP-16 combination therapy for tumor stage MF at multiple treatment centers and examined their antitumor effect.

Five male and four female patients with tumor stage MF were enrolled. Age at the start of therapy ranged from 33 to 80 years (average: 54.5 years), and the previous treatment consisted of R-CHOP, CAVOP-IFN, etc. The protocol for low-dose MST-16/VP-16 combination chemotherapy consisted of 800 mg MST-16 and 25 mg VP-16 administered 5 days per month.

Three of the 9 patients died, but two of the three fatalities were unrelated to MF. A treatment effect was seen in three and 6 patients who showed a complete response and a partial response, respectively. The 5-year and 10-year overall survival rate was 85.7% and 57.1%, respectively. Adverse reactions consisted of 4 cases of nausea and 1 case of leukopenia.

The present study demonstrated that the response rate to MST-16/VP-16 combination therapy was 100% and that the treatment effect was relatively long, suggesting that this therapy may be a viable option for treating tumor stage MF.