Retinoic acid receptor agonist as monotherapy for early-stage mycosis fungoides: does it work?

Abstract

Retinoids exert their biologic effects by binding to intracellular retinoic-acid receptors (RARs) and/or retinoid X receptors (RXRs). Early-stage mycosis fungoides (MF) has been effectively treated with bexarotene, an RXR-agonist, with overall response (OR) rates 54-67% and complete response (CR) rates 7-27%. Data on RAR-agonist monotherapy are limited.