Dr. Chen on FLASH Trial Results in CTCL

Pei-Ling Chen, MD, PhD, gives her perspective on results from the phase 3 FLASH trial investigating synthetic hypericin in CTCL.

Pei-Ling Chen, MD, PhD, is a member of the Pathology and Cutaneous Oncology Departments at Moffitt Cancer Center and a member of the Moffitt Cutaneous Lymphoma Multidisciplinary Clinic specializing in the research and treatment of patients with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL).

Chen offers her thoughts on results from the phase 3 FLASH trial (NCT02448381) analyzing synthetic hypericin (HyBryte) for patients with CTCL. Hypericin is a potent photosensitizer applied to skin lesions that is taken up by the malignant T cells, and then activated by visible light 16 to 24 hours later.

In data published in June 2022, investigators found that hypericin induced a response rate of 16% vs 4% with placebo (P = .04) following 6 weeks of therapy. Chen said hypericin may represent an important new therapy for patients with early-stage disease.