Primary cutaneous T-cell lymphomas (CTCLs) are a subgroup of blood cancers called non-Hodgkin lymphomas. CTCL is usually seen first in the skin. It is characterised by an uncontrolled increase in T-lymphocytes, which are a special kind of white blood cell. Most people who get the disease are older than 60 years of age. Compared to other T-lymphocyte diseases, this type usually progresses slowly. The likely course and outcome of the disease is also better for this type of cancer. However, there is still no cure yet. The most common subtype of CTCL is Mycosis fungoides (MF) which typically grows slowly in the early stages. However, approximately 20% of people in early-stage of the disease will get worse and progress to tumour stage or develop a type of leukaemia called Sézary syndrome. Most of these people are then subjected to chemotherapies to kill off the cancer cells. The chemotherapy may involve one or more drugs (known as monochemotherapy or polychemotherapies). Although some patients respond well at the beginning of treatment, the disease often returns and life expectancy is uncertain. Furthermore, many patients can experience severe side effects from the treatment. In the last few years, several publications have reported durable responses following a procedure called allogeneic stem cell transplantation (alloSCT). This is when the patient receives a transplant of stem cells from another donor. Before the transplant begins, the patient undergoes treatment to reduce the size of the tumour. This is called full-intensity or reduced-intensity conditioning (RIC). Reduced-intensity conditioning allows the patient to avoid the standard regimes of high-dose therapy. It appears to be equally effective but with significantly less toxicity. The use of reduced-intensity conditioning means that older people, who are the majority of patients with this disease, can be treated with stem cells.

We planned to carry out a review of the effect of allogeneic stem cell transplantation compared to standard therapy in patients with cutaneous T-cell lymphomas. However, after thorough searches, we did not find any relevant studies.

Instead we have only been able to give a summary of some case series and clinical evaluations. These do not allow us to clearly assess the possibilities and limitations of this treatment. Nevertheless, they do show that allogeneic stem cell transplantation may be of some benefit, with acceptable side effects. Therefore, it can be considered as a promising treatment option for patients with advanced CTCL but more research is needed.