Dr. Feldman Discusses Using Doxil for CTCL

Tatyana Feldman, MD, a hematologist and oncologist specializing in lymphoma at the John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center, discusses the phase II multicenter trial examining the introduction of pegylated liposomal doxorubicin (PLD) followed by bexarotene for patients with advanced cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL).

Patients with advanced or refractory CTCL received 8 doses of PLD every 2 weeks. After the 16-week process response rate was gathered to gauge the efficacy of single agent PLD. If the patients responded they would receive an additional 16 weeks of oral bexarotene, an antineoplastic agent that is an retinoic acid receptor antagonist, which has demonstrated a 50% overall response rate (ORR) in relapsed or refractory CTCL.

Once treatment is stopped for patients with CTCL the disease generally recurs. The goal of the trial was to prolong the effects of bexarotene in order to extend progression-free survival (PFS). The median PFS in the trial was 4.82 months with an ORR of 41%.