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The effectiveness of radiotherapy for leukemia cutis

  • Original Article – Clinical Oncology
  • Published:
Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background

Leukemia cutis (LC) is a rare clinical presentation of leukemia that is associated with poor prognosisabs. To date, the value of radiotherapy (RT) for the treatment of LC remains controversial. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyse the effectiveness of various RT doses for LC.

Methods and materials

Between January 2000 and January 2016, 13 patients underwent RT at our institution after exhibiting progressive disease following other treatment modalities.

Results

A total of 36 radiation courses were administered to 13 patients (8 females, 5 males) with a median age of 41 years (range 2–76). Radiation modalities included 32 focal treatments, while total skin electron beam therapy was applied to four patients. The median RT dose was 27 Gy (range 8–34). A complete response rate (CRR) to RT was achieved for 32/36 (89%) lesions (100% for AML lesions versus 33% for the other leukemias; P < 0.001). The median duration of local control (DOLC) for the entire cohort was 38 months (range 0–98), while the median survival (MS) from the time of LC presentation was 13 months (range 2.5–106). The CRR for the LC lesions treated with high-dose regimens (>26 Gy) versus low-dose regimens (≤26 Gy) was 95 versus 83%, respectively (P = 0.26), and the median DOLC was 44 months versus 10 months, respectively (P = 0.019). AML patients had a better long-term outcome than the other patients according to median DOLC (40 months versus 2 months, respectively; P < 0.001) and MS (24 versus 6 months, P = 0.004). RT was well tolerated without significant adverse events.

Conclusion

A radiation dose ≤26 Gy confer a comparable CRR to high-dose regimens and appears to be an effective treatment for controlling LC progression. However, radiation doses >26 Gy were associated with a longer DOLC. LC patients with underlying AML are associated with better outcome compared with other types of leukemia.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiation Oncology, University Hospital of Muenster, Albert-Schweitzer-Campus 1, Building A1, 48149, Muenster, Germany

    Khaled Elsayad, Michael Oertel, Uwe Haverkamp & Hans Theodor Eich

Authors
  1. Khaled Elsayad
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  2. Michael Oertel
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  3. Uwe Haverkamp
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  4. Hans Theodor Eich
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Khaled Elsayad.

Ethics declarations

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Funding

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency.

Conflict of interest

On behalf of all the authors, the corresponding author states that there are no conflicts of interest to report.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Elsayad, K., Oertel, M., Haverkamp, U. et al. The effectiveness of radiotherapy for leukemia cutis. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol 143, 851–859 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00432-016-2338-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00432-016-2338-6

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