[Management of cutaneous lymphomas].

BACKGROUND: Cutaneous lymphomas challenge both researchers and physicians for several reasons. First, their pathogenesis has not been completely elucidated, which complicates the development of new curative therapies. DIAGNOSIS: Second, the diagnosis depends on a complex combination of clinic, histology, immunohistochemistry and molecular biology. Determination of the correct diagnosis is important for the patient and clinician because the different types of cutaneous lymphomas have very different prognoses and clinical courses, knowledge of which is essential for making treatment decisions. THERAPY: Third, no curative therapies for cutaneous lymphomas are available, so that the disease often relapses even during therapy. Thereby frequent changes in therapy are necessary, so that many patients receive a variety of treatments during the course of their disease. Many of the established therapeutic agents have a broad spectrum of side effects, so that special knowledge and experience with each agent is required, as well as careful monitoring. On the basis of more complex patient cases, general aspects of the difficult management of cutaneous lymphomas are discussed in this article.