Treatment Options by Stage

Stage I Mycosis Fungoides and the Sézary Syndrome
Stage II Mycosis Fungoides and the Sézary Syndrome
Stage III Mycosis Fungoides and the Sézary Syndrome
Stage IV Mycosis Fungoides and the Sézary Syndrome

A link to a list of current clinical trials is included for each treatment section. For some types or stages of cancer, there may not be any trials listed. Check with your doctor for clinical trials that are not listed here but may be right for you.

Treatment of stage I mycosis fungoides and the Sézary syndrome may include the following:

• PUVA therapy with or without biologic therapy (interferon).
• Radiation therapy to a single skin lesion or to all the skin on the body (TSEB).
• Topical corticosteroid therapy.
• Radiation therapy to skin lesions, as palliative therapy to reduce tumor size or relieve symptoms and improve quality of life.
• Topical chemotherapy.
• Biologic therapy (interferon) with or without topical chemotherapy.
• Retinoid therapy.
• Systemic chemotherapy.
• Targeted therapy with a histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor (vorinostat or romidepsin).
• Targeted therapy with a monoclonal antibody (denileukin diftitox).
• A clinical trial of ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation therapy.
• A clinical trial of a new treatment.

Check for U.S. clinical trials from NCI's list of cancer clinical trials that are now accepting patients with stage I mycosis fungoides/Sezary syndrome. For more specific results, refine the search by using other search features, such as the location of the trial, the type of treatment, or the name of the drug. General information about clinical trials is available from the NCI Web site.

Treatment of stage II mycosis fungoides and the Sézary syndrome is palliative (to relieve symptoms and improve the quality of life) and may include the following:

• PUVA therapy with or without biologic therapy (interferon).
• Radiation therapy to all the skin on the body (TSEB).
• Topical corticosteroid therapy.
• Topical chemotherapy.
• Radiation therapy to skin lesions.
• Biologic therapy (interferon) with or without topical chemotherapy.
• Retinoid therapy.
• Systemic chemotherapy.
• Targeted therapy with a histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor (vorinostat or romidepsin).
• Targeted therapy with a monoclonal antibody (denileukin diftitox).
• A clinical trial of ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation therapy.
• A clinical trial of a new treatment.

Check for U.S. clinical trials from NCI's list of cancer clinical trials that are now accepting patients with stage II mycosis fungoides/Sezary syndrome. For more specific results, refine the search by using other search features, such as the location of the trial, the type of treatment, or the name of the drug. General information about clinical trials is available from the NCI Web site.

Treatment of stage III mycosis fungoides and the Sézary syndrome is palliative (to relieve symptoms and improve the quality of life) and may include the following:

• PUVA therapy with or without systemic chemotherapy.
• PUVA therapy with or without biologic therapy (interferon).
• Radiation therapy to all the skin on the body (TSEB).
• Topical corticosteroid therapy.
• Radiation therapy to skin lesions.
• Systemic chemotherapy with one or more drugs, with or without topical chemotherapy.
• Biologic therapy (interferon) with or without topical chemotherapy.
• Extracorporeal photochemotherapy.
• Topical chemotherapy.
• Retinoid therapy.
• Targeted therapy with a histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor (vorinostat or romidepsin).
• Targeted therapy with a monoclonal antibody (alemtuzumab or denileukin diftitox).
• A clinical trial of ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation therapy.
• A clinical trial of a new treatment.

Check for U.S. clinical trials from NCI's list of cancer clinical trials that are now accepting patients with stage III mycosis fungoides/Sezary syndrome. For more specific results, refine the search by using other search features, such as the location of the trial, the type of treatment, or the name of the drug. General information about clinical trials is available from the NCI Web site.

Treatment of stage IV mycosis fungoides and the Sézary syndrome is palliative (to relieve symptoms and improve the quality of life) and may include the following:

• PUVA therapy with or without systemic chemotherapy.
• PUVA therapy with or without biologic therapy (interferon).
• Radiation therapy to all the skin on the body (TSEB), with or without systemic chemotherapy.
• Topical corticosteroid therapy.
• Radiation therapy to skin lesions.
• Systemic chemotherapy with one or more drugs.
• Biologic therapy (interferon) with or without topical chemotherapy.
• Targeted therapy with a monoclonal antibody (alemtuzumab or denileukin diftitox).
• Topical chemotherapy.
• Extracorporeal photochemotherapy with or without radiation therapy to all the skin on the body.
• Retinoid therapy.
• Targeted therapy with a histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor (vorinostat or romidepsin).
• A clinical trial of ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation therapy.
• A clinical trial of a new treatment.

Check for U.S. clinical trials from NCI's list of cancer clinical trials that are now accepting patients with stage IV mycosis fungoides/Sezary syndrome. For more specific results, refine the search by using other search features, such as the location of the trial, the type of treatment, or the name of the drug. General information about clinical trials is available from the NCI Web site.