Background: PUVA therapy and narrowband UVB therapy (NBUVB) constitute a widely used first line therapy in mycosis fungoides (MF).
Methods: It is a retrospective study dealing with 7 patients with MF treated by phototherapy [3 with PUVA (III, IV, V phototype) and 4 with NBUVB (III-IV phototype)]. One patient had both treatments (PUVA then NBUVB for a relapse).
Results: Complete response (CR) was achieved in 2 of the 3 patients treated with PUVA (they had stage IB-MF). Both had relapsed after 40 sessions and 7 months later, respectively. Relapses were treated by PUVA maintenance treatment (2 sessions/2 weeks) and NBUVB leading to CR. The third patient (stage IIA) did not respond to PUVA. CR was obtained in the 5 patients treated with NBUVB (stage IA-IB), after a mean cumulative dose of 58.3 J/cm(2). No relapse was noted with NBUVB after a mean follow-up period of 13.2 months (extremes: 2 -31 months).
Conclusion: NBUVB is only effective on non-infiltrated plaques independently of phototype. PUVA therapy is effective even on infiltrated plaques. Both treatments do not prevent relapses.