Purpose Brentuximab vedotin, a monoclonal antibody (cAC10) conjugated to monomethyl auristatin E, targets CD30+ receptors. This phase II open-label trial was conducted to evaluate safety and efficacy in CD30+ cutaneous T-cell lymphomas. Patients and Methods Forty-eight patients with CD30+ lymphoproliferative disorders or mycosis fungoides (MF) received an infusion of 1.8 mg/kg every 21 days. Results Forty-eight evaluable patients (22 women and 26 men; median age, 59.5 years) had an overall response rate of 73% (95% CI, 60% to 86%; 35 of 48 patients) and complete response rate of 35% (95% CI, 22% to 49%; 17 of 48 patients). Fifteen (54%; 95% CI, 31% to 59%) of 28 patients with MF responded, independent of CD30 expression. In patients with MF/Sézary syndrome, the overall response rate was 50% (five of 10 patients) in patients with low CD30 expression (< 10%), 58% (seven of 12 patients) in patients with medium expression (10% to 50%), and 50% (three of six patients) in patients with high expression (≥ 50%). Time to response was 12 weeks (range, 3 to 39 weeks), and duration of response was 32 weeks (range, 3 to 93 weeks). All patients with lymphomatoid papulosis (n = 9) and primary cutaneous anaplastic T-cell lymphomas (n = 2) responded; time to response was 3 weeks (range, 3 to 9 weeks), and median duration of response was 26 weeks (range, 6 to 44 weeks). Soluble baseline CD30 levels were lowest in complete responders (P = .036). Grade 1 to 2 peripheral neuropathy was observed in 65% of patients (95% CI, 52% to 79%; 31 of 48 patients), is still ongoing in 55% of patients (95% CI, 41% to 69%; 17 of 31 patients), and resolved in 45% of patients (95% CI, 31% to 59%; 14 of 31 patients), with a median time to resolution of 41.5 weeks. Grade 3 to 4 events were neutropenia (n = 5), nausea (n = 2), chest pain (n = 2), deep vein thrombosis (n = 1), transaminitis (n = 1), and dehydration (n = 1). Dose reductions to 1.2 mg/kg were instituted as a result of grade 2 neuropathy (n = 6), transaminitis (n = 1), and arthralgias and fatigue (n = 2). Conclusion Brentuximab vedotin is both active and well tolerated in cutaneous T-cell lymphoma and lymphomatoid papulosis, with an overall response rate of 73% and complete response rate of 35%.

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Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphomas (CTCL) are rare, but potentially devastating malignancies, whose pathogenesis remains poorly elucidated. Unfortunately, currently it is not possible to predict based on the available criteria in which patients the cancer will progress and which patients will experience an indolent disease course. Furthermore, at early stages this malignancy often masquerades as psoriasis, chronic eczema or other benign inflammatory dermatoses. As a result, it takes on average 6 y to diagnose this lymphoma since its initial presentation. In this study, we performed transcription expression profiling using TruSeq targeted RNA gene expression on 181 fresh and formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded (FFPE) skin samples from CTCL patients and patients affected by benign inflammatory dermatoses that often mimic CTCL clinically and on histology (e.g., psoriasis, chronic eczema, etc.) We also analyzed multiple longitudinal biopsies that were obtained from the same patients over time. Our results underscore significant molecular heterogeneity with respect to gene expression between different patients and even within the same patients over time. Our study also confirmed and genes as being differentially expressed between CTCL and benign skin biopsies. In addition, we found that differential expression for a subset of these markers (e.g., and) may be useful in prognosticating this disease. This research, combined with other molecular analyses, prepares the foundation for the development of personalized molecular approach toward diagnosis and management of CTCL.

Background Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphomas (Mycosis Fungoides and its leukemic variant, Sézary Syndrome) are rare malignancies. Reports of occurrence of Mycosis Fungoides in married couples and families raise the possibility of an environmental trigger for this cancer. While it was suggested that CTLC arises from inappropriate T cell stimulation, currently no preventable trigger has been identified. Methods We analyzed by region, zip code, age, sex and ethnicity the demographic data of 1047 patients from Texas, who were seen in a CTCL clinic at the MD Anderson Cancer Center during 2000-2012 (the MDACC database) and 1990 patients that were recorded in the population-based Texas Cancer Registry (TCR) between 1996-2010. Subsequently data from both databases was cross analyzed and compared. Results Our findings, based on the MDACC database, document geographic clustering of patients in three communities within the Houston metropolitan area, where CTCL incidence rates were 5-20 times higher than the expected population rate. Analysis of the TCR database defined the CTCL population rate for the state to be 5.8 [95% CI 5.5, 6.0] cases per million individuals per year, confirmed the observations from the MDACC database and further highlighted additional areas of geographic clustering and regions spared by CTCL in Texas. Conclusions Our study documents geographic clustering of CTCL cases in Texas and argues for the existence of yet unknown external causes/triggers for this rare malignancy.

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