CHICAGO, 5 Sept. (BelTA - Xinhua) - A drug called mogamulizumab has significantly improved progression-free survival for patients with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, a clinical trial at Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University found.
In a large multi-center trial, 372 patients with the two most common subtypes of Mycosis fungoides and Sezary syndrome of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) who had not responded to prior treatment were randomized to receive either mogamulizumab or vorinostat, a standard therapy.
Mogamulizumab is a novel targeted therapy that binds to a protein called CCR4 that is expressed on the surface of malignant T-cells.
The researchers found that treatment with mogamulizumab significantly prolonged progression-free survival as compared to vorinostat. Mogamulizumab was also found to be superior in terms of quality of life and the proportion of patients who achieved an overall response.
CTCL is a rare cancer of T-cell lymphocytes that primarily affects the skin. There is no cure, and the disease is difficult to treat, with few therapy options.
The most common side effects of mogamulizumab are infusion-related reactions, rash, diarrhea and fatigue, but were considered manageable.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved the drug for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory Mycosis fungoides and Sezary syndrome who had received at least one prior systemic therapy.
The findings have been published in the Lancet Oncology.
