Prognosis, clinical outcomes and quality of life issues in cutaneous T-cell lymphoma

For physicians who are caring for patients who have cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL), knowledge of prognostic factors is relevant. Additional considerations should be given to the choice of therapy and quality of life issues. This article reviews methodologic issues in studies of prognosis and survival, emphasizes important endpoints as measures of outcome to treatments of mycosis fungoides (MF)/Sezary syndrome (SS), the most common form of CTCL, and discusses approaches to assessing the quality of life (QOL) of patients. QOL instruments that could be incorporated in clinical trials of therapies for patients who have MF/SS are reviewed.