Assessment and management of pruritus in Sézary-syndrome

Cutaneous T-cell lymphomas (CTCL) - particularly in advanced stage, such as Sezary-syndrome (SS) - are often associated with treatment-refractory, intensive, cruciating pruritus, which can severely impact the patients’ quality of life. The exact patomechanism of pruritus associated with CTCL is not clearly understood, therefore no targeted treatment is available yet. The assesment of pruritus intensity with the help of a questionnaire can be a useful method to follow-up the patients complaints and monitor their therapeutic response. The authors present the case of a patient with Sézary syndrome, associated with severe itch, hereby discuss their findings and overview the literature of pruritus in Sézary syndrome and the validated pruritus questionnaires.