CutaneousLymphomaFnd's video: FB Live - Open Q A with Dr Sarah Noor

November - Facebook Live event was an open Q&A with Dr. Sarah Noor from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Dr. Noor, is a dermatologist with expertise in cutaneous T-cell and B-cell lymphomas. Q&A - click on timestamps for Dr. Noor's responses to the following questions: 00:01:31 How is it that I didn't get diagnosed quickly and why is it so hard to diagnose this disease? 00:04:11 Can you talk a little bit about the difference in the types of biopsies and once a biopsy is taken and it's sent to a pathologist what do they do with that and how could it come back inconclusive? Is it that someone doesn't know what they're looking for? How is a diagnosis pulled together? 00:05:00 What are the different types of biopsies? And what happens when we do a biopsy? 00:09:00 How much time in the sun is right for this disease vs. too much? 00:10:43 Patients will often ask, in the summer time do they have to go to phototherapy or can we get some natural sunlight? 00:12:38 If I can't afford the light treatments (high copay) for my mycosis fungoides what other treatment can I do other than the topical cream? 00:19:10 What do you think about long term topical steroid treatments along with phototherapy? 00:21:11 I am currently using Clobetasol for two of my more significant lesions. Is there anything else that might be more effective? 00:23:14 I have just been diagnosed with notalgia paresthetica (NP) and have had mycosis fungoides for 30 years, stage 1A. Is there a link between T cell cancer and what dermatologists believe is some type of nerve damage in the back? The NP condition is extremely itchy. Is there any type of cream besides steroid creams that you would suggest to use? 00:25:39 I live in North Dakota. I had melanoma last year - I burn with UVB - do I need a second opinion - where do I go? 00:32:45 Could you explain the use of the stem cell transplant - is this a possibility when someone has mycosis fungoides and receives chemotherapy and radiotherapy? If you have received chemotherapy and radiotherapy is stem cell transplant an option? 00:37:58 I know there are some clinical trials in the U.S. for CTCL. Is there anything available in Canada? 00:40:19 When is photopheresis a good option for treatment? Can it be combined with other therapies? 00:43:16 How is the stage of this disease determined? 00:48:18 If you are (stage) 1a and develop one tumor, which is treated and resolves, are you still 1a? 00:49:37 My husband has Sezary. What are the differences between CD4, CD8, CD30, etc.? 00:52:59 I have plaques over 90% of my body now. What stage is that? 00:54:52 I live in the UK and have recently been diagnosed with Sezary - I will soon be starting interferon - what sort of life expectancy am I looking at and what creams are best for the itching? 01:01:09 I use Triamcinolone to treat the itching. If I only use the cream for itching and not for the red blotches, will the mycosis fungoides metastasize than if I treated the blotches? 01:02:56 I have CML leukemia and cutaneous folicular lymphoma. Is there a difference in blood reactions?