Photopheresis

Photopheresis (also called photoimmune therapy or extracorporeal photopheresis) treats cutaneous cancer in two ways. It directly attacks cells and increases the body’s immune system response against them. Blood is removed from the body and put into a special machine that separates the lymphocytes from the rest of the blood. After being treated with PUVA (see above), the lymphocytes are mixed back in with the rest of the blood, which is infused back into the patient. Treatments are usually given two days in a row, with each procedure generally lasting a few hours. Treatments are typically repeated every four weeks.