Patients (n-987) with a histologically confirmed diagnosis of follicular lymphoma were studied with the aim of developing a prognostic model specifically devised for this type of lymphoma. We ...collected information on age, sex, Ann Arbor stage, number of extranodal disease sites, bone marrow (BM) involvement, bulky disease, B symptom criteria (fever, night sweats, and weight loss), performance status (PS), serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) level, serum albumin level, hemoglobin level, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR). In the training sample of 429 patients with complete data, multivariate analysis showed that age, sex, number of extranodal sites, B symptoms, serum LDH level, and ESR were factors predictive for overall survival. Using these 6 variables, a prognostic model was devised to identify 3 groups at different risk. The 5- and 10-year survival rate was 90% and 65% for patients at low risk, respectively; 75% and 54% for patients at intermediate risk; and 38% and 11% for those at high risk (log-rank test, 86.62; P < .0001). The model was also predictive (P = .0001) in the validation sample of 265 patients with complete data only for the 6 variables used in the development of the model and even in the group of 210 patients from the validation sample uniformly treated with doxorubicin-containing regimens (P = .0001). The prognostic model appears to be very useful in identifying patients with follicular lymphoma at low, intermediate, or high risk.
Abstract By using GRADE system we updated the guidelines for management of CLL issued in 2006 from SIE, SIES and GITMO group. We recommended fludarabine, cyclophosphamide, rituximab (FCR) in younger ...and selected older patients with a good fitness status, no unfavourable genetics (deletion 17p and/or p53 mutations), and a less toxic treatment in nonfit and elderly patients. In patients without unfavourable genetics, relapsed after 24 months the same initial treatment including rituximab can be considered. In patients with unfavourable genetics, refractory or relapsed within 24 months from a prior fludarabine-based treatment, allogeneic SCT or experimental treatments should be given.
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Background: Major progress has been made in the treatment of multiple myeloma (MM) in recent years, including the introduction of novel agents and transplant strategy. High-dose ...melphalan (HDM) followed by autologous haematopoietic stell cell transplantation (AHSCT) remains an integral component of upfront treatment strategy. Many studies stress the importance of achieving a deeper response as a surrogate for improved survival but, despite the improvements, MM remains incurable and long-term survival appears elusive. The aim of study is to establish the actual prognosis for the different response categories in the same original cohort of patients with MM treated with HDM and AHSCT after long-term follow-up. Methods: We evaluated a cohort of MM patients treated up-front in the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit of Reggio Calabria between 1994 and 2006. Disease response was assessed with the use of criteria from the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation modified to include Complete Remission (CR) and near Complete Remission (nCR). Results: The study group was composed by 150 patients (age at 1st AHSCT M±SD 55±9 years, male 64%); 94 (63%) of them had 2 AHSCT. After treatments 22 (15%) patients have a CR, 32 (21%) a nCR and 90(64.0%) a PR. After a mean follow up of 50 months the cumulative probability of survival was 69% for patients with CR, 43% for those in nCR and 0% for patients in PR (log-rank test P PR vs nCR=0.006; CR vs nCR and nCR vs PR<0.001 ). The estimate mean survival for patients with CR, nCR and PR was respectively 166, 81 and 46 months. For patients with CR the survival curves showed a plateau of cumulative probability of survival after 134 months. Conclusions: In MM achieving a CR after HDM and AHSCT is a central prognostic factor. The relapse rate is low in patients with >11 years of follow-up, possibly signifying durable remission in patients in CR.
Single-center experiences have shown that intensified treatments with autologous transplantation are a promising therapeutic strategy for patients with high-risk follicle-center lymphoma (FCL) at ...diagnosis, whereas data from prospective multicenter trials are still lacking. This paper describes the results of a prospective multicenter study of an intensified purging-free high-dose sequential (i-HDS) chemotherapy schedule with peripheral blood progenitor cell (PBPC) autografting. The main feature of this program is harvesting stem cells after intensified chemotherapeutic debulking, with no ex vivo manipulation of PBPCs. Ninety-two previously untreated patients aged 60 or younger with advanced-stage FCL were enrolled by 20 Italian centers and evaluated on an intention-to-treat basis. i-HDS proved feasible with limited toxicity (87% patients completed the planned treatment schedule). i-HDS led to a complete remission rate of 88%. The projected overall survival and disease-free survival (DFS) were, respectively, 84% and 67% at 4 years. Centralized molecular analysis showed that polymerase chain reaction–negative harvests could be collected in 47% of cases. Following autograft, 65% of molecularly evaluable patients achieved clinical and molecular remission. The projected DFS at 4 years of this subgroup is 85%. This result emphasizes the importance of achieving maximal tumor reduction in these patients. In conclusion, our data show that highly effective intensified treatments can now be routinely offered to young patients with poor-risk FCL even at small institutions, with no need for sophisticated and expensive cell manipulation procedures.
Abstract In 45, ≤60 years old patients with CLL and an adverse biologic profile, a front-line treatment with Fludarabine and Campath (Alemtuzumab® ) was given. The overall response rate was 75.5%, ...the complete response rate (CR) 24.4% with the lowest CR rates, 16.7% and 8.3%, in 11q and 17p deleted cases. The 3-year progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival were 42.5% and 79.9%, respectively. PFS was significantly influenced by CLL duration, beta2-microglobulin, and improved by post-remissional stem cell transplantation. Front-line fludarabine and alemtuzumab showed a manageable safety profile and evidence of a benefit in a small series of CLL patients with adverse biologic features.
The aim of this retrospective study was to examine the impact of prolonged chlorambucil (CLB) therapy on the development of second neoplasia (SN) in 389 patients with B-CLL, comparing untreated cases ...with those receiving CLB as induction plus maintenance therapy. Fifty-nine SN cases were observed (15.1%) at a median follow-up of 79 months. SN occurrence was significantly related to Binet stage. No difference was detected between untreated and CLB treated cases neither in terms of SN incidence (12.2% vs 18.1%) nor in the median follow-up (81 vs 79.1 months). Moreover, SN free survival was not different between these two groups. Four out of 13 CLB treated patients (30.8%) developed s-MDS after a subsequent treatment with fludarabine plus cyclophosphamide (F + C). In conclusion, SN development is dependent on the length of follow-up rather than on therapy duration. F + C should be administered with caution after prolonged CLB therapy.
Abstract 2837
Rai and Binet staging systems are not devoid of some limitations, including the lack of evaluation of thoracic and abdominal lymphadenopathies. The widely-used IWCLL guidelines do not ...incorporate use of TB-CT scan in the diagnostic algorithm. In the present study, we investigated whether TB-CT scans could up-stage Binet stage A CLL patients included in the prospective multicenter O-CLL01 GISL study (clinicaltrial.gov ID: NCT00917549), and whether this subgroup presented differences in prognostic markers and in progression-free survival (PFS). To date, 454 patients have been enrolled and TB-CT scans were available in 238 patients. The median age was 60 years (range, 33–71) and 136 (57%) were male. According to Rai, 180 patients were at low risk (stage 0) and 58 at intermediate risk (stages I-II). b2-microglobulin was elevated in 35.5% of cases. Seventy-eight patients (32%) were IgVH unmutated, 108 patients (45%) had a high ZAP-70 expression, 45 patients (19%) were CD38 positive (>30%). FISH data were available in 226/238 cases; the most frequent abnormality was del(13)(q14) (105 pts, 46.5%), followed by trisomy 12 (24 pts, 10.6%), del(11q22.3) (13 pts 5.5%), del(17p13) (4 pts 1.8%) while 80 cases (35.4%) cytogenetics were normal. Cytogenetic abnormalities were clustered in 3 risk groups i.e. low (del(13q14) and normal), intermediate (trisomy 12) and high risk (del(11q22) and del(17p13). Two hundred six out of 238 patients had a minimum follow-up of 6 months and were evaluable for PFS. Considering TB-CT scan, 54 out of 238 analyzed (22.7%) patients converted into Binet stage B. Notably, 63% were male, b2-microglobulin was elevated in 50% of cases, 42.6% were IgVH unmutated, 48.1% had a high ZAP-70 expression, 27.8% were CD38 positive, and 17.6% showed a high-risk FISH. Binet B patients showed a statistically higher rate of cases with high risk cytogenetic abnormalities than Binet A patients (17.6% vs 4.6%; p=0.032). While, no statistically different distribution of gender, age, B2-microglobulin, IgVH mutational status, CD38 or ZAP-70 expression were observed between the two subgroups. After a median follow-up of 24 months 46/206 (22%) evaluable cases showed disease progression. Binet B patients showed a PFS significantly shorter than those with a normal TB-CT (2-years PFS probability, 85.6% vs 68.5%; p<0.0001). According to the Rai classification 102/180 (56.7%) low risk patients were re-defined as intermediate risk with the integration of TB-CT scan. This subset of patients showed a statistically higher rate of cases with elevated ZAP-70 (51.5% vs 35.9%; p=0.049) and CD38 (22.5% vs 10.3%; p=0.045) than patients at low risk. After a median follow-up of 25 months, 23/154 (15%) of evaluable cases showed disease progression. Patients with an intermediate risk Rai stage showed a PFS significantly shorter than those with a low risk (2-years PFS probability, 82% vs 96%; p=0.002). In this setting 70 cases met the diagnostic criteria of monoclonal B-lymphocytosis (<5 × 109/L B- lymphocytes in the blood). With the integration of TB-CT scan 30/70 (42.9%) monoclonal B-lymphocytosis patients were re-defined as intermediate risk according the Rai classification. No statistically different distribution of clinical and biological parameters were observed between cases who remained in the low risk stage and those who became at intermediate risk. After a median follow-up of 28 months 4/57 cases evaluable for PFS showed a disease progression (2 cases for each subgroup). Considering low risk Rai stage, no statistical difference in PFS was observed among nonCT-upstaged MBL, CT-upstaged MBL, nonCT-upstaged Rai 0, while CT-upstaged Rai 0 cases showed a statistically shorter PFS (p<.0001) than the other groups (Figure 1). Finally, TB-CT scan allowed the early identification of a second neoplasia in 2 cases (lung cancer 1 pt, renal cell carcinoma 1 pt). Our preliminary data indicate that the integration of TB-CT scans in the clinical staging allows for an effective clinical discrimination of Binet A CLL cases in approximately 23% of cases at more advanced stages, predicting a worse clinical outcome. However, the use of TB-CT scanning for upstaging is not beneficial for predicting PFS in MBL cases. A longer follow-up will demonstrate whether the inclusion of TB-CT scan in the initial work-up of patients with early-stage CLL will provide clinically relevant prognostic information. Display omitted
Di Raimondo:celgene: Honoraria. Foà:Bristol-Myers Squibb: Consultancy, Membership on an entity’s Board of Directors or advisory committees.
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8006
Background: The optimal chemotherapy regimen for patients with advanced, active follicular lymphoma (FL) has not been established yet. We conducted a randomized trial comparing ...R-CVP with R-CHOP and R-FM. Methods: Previously untreated patients with advanced FL were randomly assigned to receive 8 doses of rituximab associated to 8 cycles of CVP, or 6 cycles of CHOP or FM (fludarabine 25 mg/m2 day 1-3, mitoxantrone 10 mg/m2 day 1). No maintenance therapy was allowed. The principal study end point was Time to Treatment Failure (TTF). Events in TTF were failure of induction therapy, progressive or relapse disease and death from any causes. In order to show a hazard ratio between each experimental arms and standard arm of 0.53 we planned to accrue 534 patients (178 per arm) with 4 years of accrual and 1 year of follow-up. Statistical tests were two-sided with an alpha error of 0.05, adjusted by Bonferroni for multiple arm comparison, and power of 90%. Results: Between March 2006 and September 2010, 534 patients were enrolled; 30 were subsequently excluded due to violation of inclusion criteria. Median patient age was 56 years (range 30-75), 63% of patients had stage IV disease, 37% had 3-5 FLIPI and 27% 3-5 FLIPI2 scores. At the end of induction treatment the overall response rate (CR+ PR) for the whole group was 91% (p=0.247). After a median follow-up of 34 months 208 events for TTF were recorded; 3-year TTF was 46%, 64% and 61% for patients treated with R-CVP, R-CHOP and R-FM respectively (R-CHOP vs R-CVP p=0.007; R-FM vs R-CVP p=0.021; R-FM vs R-CHOP p=0.969). The 3-year overall survival rate (OS) was 98%, 95% and 93% for R-CVP, R-CHOP and R-FM group, respectively (P=NS). Patients treated with R-FM had a higher rate of g III-IV neutropenia (64% vs 28% R-CVP, p<0.001; and vs 50% R-CHOP, p=0.015). During follow-up second malignancies were registered as late events in 23 patients (2%, 3% and 8% in R-CVP, R-CHOP and R-FM, respectively). Conclusions: This trial showed that R-CVP was associated with an inferior 3-year TTF and PFS compared with R-FM and R-CHOP. OS was similar among study arms but R-FM showed a higher rate of secondary tumors.
Divisione di Ematologia, Azienda Ospedaliera Papardo, Messina, Italy.
OBJECTIVES: The Italian Society of Hematology (SIE) and two affiliate societies (SIES and GITMO) commissioned a project to ...develop clinical practice guidelines for the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). METHODS: Key questions in the management of patients with CLL were formulated by an Advisory Committee and approved by an Expert Panel of eight senior hematologists. After a systematic review of the literature, recommendations for disease-specific and supportive therapies were formulated and graded according to the supporting evidence. Explicit consensus methods were used for providing recommendations for questions with incomplete or potentially biased evidence. RESULTS: It is recommended that therapy is commenced in patients with CLL when at least one of the following are present: B-symptoms, progressive/obstructive lymphadenopathy or organomegaly, rapid lymphocyte doubling time, anemia or thrombocytopenia (of new onset, worsening or steroid-resistant). It is recommended that patients without co-morbidity should receive fludarabine plus cyclophosphamide, whereas elderly patients with co-morbidity should receive oral chlorambucil. Younger patients with unfavorable biological risk factors should be considered for high-dose chemotherapy and autologous or allogeneic stem cell transplantation within approved clinical trials. Patients either relapsing rapidly after, or non-responsive to, first-line chlorambucil should receive fludarabine-containing regimens. Patients either relapsing soon after or not responding to fludarabine-based chemotherapy should be considered for schedules including non-cross-reactive agents, such as alemtuzumab, possibly followed by high-dose chemotherapy and autologous transplantation in the context of a clinical trial or by allogeneic stem cell transplantation. CONCLUSIONS: We describe the results of a systematic literature review and an explicit approach to consensus techniques which resulted in recommendations for the key therapeutic decisions in patients with CLL.
In chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), the most prevalent lymphoid malignancy in western countries, patients have a median age at diagnosis of 72 years. In the last few years, there has been ...remarkable progress in understanding the biology of CLL, the detection of molecular prognostic factors and the development of more effective therapies. However, many of the milestone studies were conducted in populations that were considerably younger than the average age of the CLL population. Today, the challenge is to improve management of elderly patients. In this population, outcome of treatment with newer highly effective therapies is often compromised by comorbidities and poor performance status. Decision on how elderly patients should be treated is thus a complex issue. The management of these patients should rely on the development of risk-stratified treatment strategies based on the assessment of individual functional status and the biologic characteristics of CLL. New single agents with reduced toxic effects (i.e., inhibitors of BCR signalling) that have achieved promising results in Phase I/II studies when available should modify the paradigm of the treatment of elderly patients with CLL.
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