Iron Deficiency Anemia in Patients Undergoing Extracorporeal Photopheresis for Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma.

Objective: To describe the indicidence and severity of iron deficiency anemia (IDA) in patients who have received extracorporeal photopheresis (ECP) treatment of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL).

Methods: We performed a retrospective study during a 9-year period of patients with CTCL who were treated with ECP. ECP was performed with UVAR XTS and CELLEX (Therakos Inc). IDA was defined by a drop in hemoglobin (Hb), mean cell volume (MCV), and increased red blood cell distribution width (RDW).

Results: We identified a total of 36 patients; 1 patient was excluded due to severe anemia. In 35 patients, initial hemoglobin values ranged from 9.8 g per dL to 15.9 g per dL, and patients received 4 to 327 ECP treatments. In all, 28 patients showed decreases in Hb of 0.8 g per dL to 6 g per dL during treatments.

Conclusion: Chronic ECP led to IDA in 28 of 35 patients with CTCL. IDA occurs due to blood loss when ECP equipment does not return full blood volume to patients.