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The following is a summary of “Clinical features, treatment options and outcomes in primary cutaneous B-cell lymphomas: a real-world, multicenter, retrospective study,” published in the November 2024 issue of Dermatology by Nikolaou et al. 

Researchers conducted a retrospective study to investigate and present real-world treatment outcomes in patients with primary cutaneous B-cell lymphomas (PCBCLs).  

They assessed patients diagnosed with PCBCLs treated at 5 major referral centers for cutaneous lymphoma in Greece over 10 years, collected and analyzed the baseline characteristics with treatment outcomes.  

The results showed that 235 patients with PCBCL, predominantly female (53.2%), were included. The median age at diagnosis was 60 years, and the median follow-up was 3 years. Primary cutaneous marginal zone lymphoma (PCMZL) was the most common subtype (52.3%), primary cutaneous follicle center lymphoma (PCFCL) (40.9%) and primary cutaneous large B-cell lymphoma, leg type (PCDLBCL, LT) (6.8%). 77.3% achieved complete response (CR) after first-line treatment. Radiotherapy (RT) and surgical excision (SE) yielded superior outcomes, with 88.9% and 89% CR rates, respectively. Relapse occurred in 22.6% of initial CR responders. The median time to the next treatment (TTNT) for PCMZL and PCFCL was 349 days while, RT and topical/intralesional steroids showed longer TTNT compared to SE, for PCMZL and PCFCL, the 1-year progression-free survival (PFS) was 84.2% and 85%, and the 5-year PFS was 66.5% and 58.8%.  

Investigators concluded that PCBCLs exhibited favorable outcomes, with RT showing significantly longer TTNT than SE, making RT the preferred treatment option, while “watch and wait” was considered reasonable for asymptomatic patients after evaluation. 

Source: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ijd.17564