RADIOTHERAPY OF CUTANEOUS-B CELL LYMPHOMAS - OUR EXPERIENCE IN 31 CASES

Purpose: Since cutaneous B cell lymphomas belong mostly to low or inte rmediate histologic grade of malignancy and have low tendency to sprea ding, a local treatment such as radiotherapy appears to be a suitable choice in the management of the disease. The authors have reviewed the ir cases to verify this statement. Methods and Materials: 31 patients affected by cutaneous B cell lymphomas classified as IE stage accordin g to Ann Arbor received radiotherapy with orthovoltage techniques with total doses per field ranging from 10 to 40 Gy (median dose 30 Gy). A ll the patients had a minimum follow-up of 2 years. Results: All the t arget skin lesions underwent complete remission. In 10 patients (32.2% ) the clinical remission is still lasting. In 21 cases (67.8%) a disea se relapse was observed: only at skin in other sites than those previo usly treated in 17 (81%), at skin and lymph nodes in two cases (9.5%), at skin, bone, and lymph node in one case (4.7%), at skin and bowel i n one case (4.7%). The extracutaneous involvement occurred in cases wi th lesions of intermediate grade malignancy. After a new course of rad iotherapy for skin lesions only, and chemotherapy, surgery or megavolt age radiotherapy for the other involvements, on the whole 21 patients (67.8%) got a complete remission. Conclusion: On the basis of their re sults and of a review of the literature, the authors propose radiother apy as the choice treatment of primary cutaneous B cell lymphomas.