Dr T Pratap Reddy, Consultant Radiation Oncologist at the KIMS Hospitals, Hyderabad has successfully performed Total Skin Electron Beam (TSEB) Radiation Therapy on a 65-year-old patient who has been suffering from mycosis fungoides a form of skin cancer for the past 15 years.

Mycosis fungoides, also known as the Alibert-Bazin syndrome or granuloma fungoides, is the most common form of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. It generally affects the skin but may progress internally over time. There will be Symptoms like itchy skin, rash, skin lesions and tumors.

While the cause remains unclear, most cases are in people over 20 years of age and it is more common in men than women. Treatment options of this ailment include Ultraviolet light, topical corticosteroids, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and Biologic Therapy.

Dr Reddy in a statement here on Sunday said, “Due to the lack of expertise in TSEB Radiation Therapy, Mycosis fungoides patients are suffering from decades; but now KIMS has got expertise to perform radiation therapy to such complex cancers.”

“In this case, Electron-beam radiation of low energies were made to penetrate only through the dermis (Skin), and thus the skin alone is treated without systemic effects. This therapy required a radiation therapy facility with highly skilled Radiation oncologists and considerable technical expertise to deliver precise radiation dose as the treatment is given to whole Skin. And KIMS has that expertise today,” he said.

This therapy can provide excellent palliation, with complete response rates of as much as 80 per cent, and may be combined with systemic treatment. Based on the long-term survival of early-stage patients, electron-beam radiation therapy is sometimes used with curative intent. Long-term disease-free survival can be achieved in patients with unilesional mycosis fungoides treated with local radiation therapy, the statement added.