Treatment with rituximab has improved the outcome for patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Patients with B-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) may also have the CD20 antigen, which is ...targeted by rituximab. Although single-group studies suggest that adding rituximab to chemotherapy could improve the outcome in such patients, this hypothesis has not been tested in a randomized trial.
We randomly assigned adults (18 to 59 years of age) with CD20-positive, Philadelphia chromosome (Ph)-negative ALL to receive chemotherapy with or without rituximab, with event-free survival as the primary end point. Rituximab was given during all treatment phases, for a total of 16 to 18 infusions.
From May 2006 through April 2014, a total of 209 patients were enrolled: 105 in the rituximab group and 104 in the control group. After a median follow-up of 30 months, event-free survival was longer in the rituximab group than in the control group (hazard ratio, 0.66; 95% confidence interval CI, 0.45 to 0.98; P=0.04); the estimated 2-year event-free survival rates were 65% (95% CI, 56 to 75) and 52% (95% CI, 43 to 63), respectively. Treatment with rituximab remained associated with longer event-free survival in a multivariate analysis. The overall incidence rate of severe adverse events did not differ significantly between the two groups, but fewer allergic reactions to asparaginase were observed in the rituximab group.
Adding rituximab to the ALL chemotherapy protocol improved the outcome for younger adults with CD20-positive, Ph-negative ALL. (Funded by the Regional Clinical Research Office, Paris, and others; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00327678 .).
Summary Background Gemtuzumab ozogamicin was the first example of antibody-directed chemotherapy in cancer, and was developed for acute myeloid leukaemia. However, randomised trials in which it was ...combined with standard induction chemotherapy in adults have produced conflicting results. We did a meta-analysis of individual patient data to assess the efficacy of adding gemtuzumab ozogamicin to induction chemotherapy in adult patients with acute myeloid leukaemia. Methods We searched PubMed for reports of randomised controlled trials published in any language up to May 1, 2013, that included an assessment of gemtuzumab ozogamicin given to adults (aged 15 years and older) in conjunction with the first course of intensive induction chemotherapy for acute myeloid leukaemia (excluding acute promyelocytic leukaemia) compared with chemotherapy alone. Published data were supplemented with additional data obtained by contacting individual trialists. The primary endpoint of interest was overall survival. We used standard meta-analytic techniques, with an assumption-free (or fixed-effect) method. We also did exploratory stratified analyses to investigate whether any baseline features predicted a greater or lesser benefit from gemtuzumab ozogamicin. Findings We obtained data from five randomised controlled trials (3325 patients); all trials were centrally randomised and open label, with overall survival as the primary endpoint. The addition of gemtuzumab ozogamicin did not increase the proportion of patients achieving complete remission with or without complete peripheral count recovery (odds ratio OR 0·91, 95% CI 0·77–1·07; p=0·3). However, the addition of gemtuzumab ozogamicin significantly reduced the risk of relapse (OR 0·81, 0·73–0·90; p=0·0001), and improved overall survival at 5 years (OR 0·90, 0·82–0·98; p=0·01). At 6 years, the absolute survival benefit was especially apparent in patients with favourable cytogenetic characteristics (20·7%; OR 0·47, 0·31–0·73; p=0·0006), but was also seen in those with intermediate characteristics (5·7%; OR 0·84, 0·75–0·95; p=0·005). Patients with adverse cytogenetic characteristics did not benefit (2·2%; OR 0·99, 0·83–1·18; p=0·9). Doses of 3 mg/m2 were associated with fewer early deaths than doses of 6 mg/m2 , with equal efficacy. Interpretation Gemtuzumab ozogamicin can be safely added to conventional induction therapy and provides a significant survival benefit for patients without adverse cytogenetic characteristics. These data suggest that the use of gemtuzumab ozogamicin should be reassessed and its licence status might need to be reviewed. Funding None.
The natural history of paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) clinical subcategories (classic PNH and aplastic anemia AA/PNH syndrome) is still unknown. We retrospectively studied 460 PNH patients ...diagnosed in 58 French hematologic centers from 1950 to 2005. The median (SE) follow-up time was 6.8 (0.5) years. The median survival time (SE) was 22 (2.5) years. We identified 113 patients with classic PNH, 224 patients with AA-PNH syndrome, and 93 (22%) intermediate patients who did not fit within these 2 categories. At presentation, classic PNH patients were older, with more frequent abdominal pain and displayed higher levels of GPI-AP–deficient granulocytes. A time-dependent improved survival was observed. In classic PNH, diagnoses before 1986 (hazard ratio HR: 3.6; P = .01) and increasing age (P < .001) were associated with worse survival prognoses, whereas use of androgens within the first year after diagnosis was protective (HR, 0.17; P = .01). Transfusions before 1996 (HR, 2.7; P = .007) led to lower survival rates in patients with AA-PNH syndrome, whereas immunosuppressive treatment was associated with better outcomes (HR, 0.33; P = .03). Evolution to thrombosis affected survival in both subcategories (classic PNH: HR, 7.8 P < .001; AA-PNH syndrome: HR, 33.0 P < .001). Evolution to bicytopenia or pancytopenia for classic PNH (HR, 7.3, P < .001) and malignancies for AA-PNH syndrome (HR, 48.8; P < .001) were associated with worse outcomes. Although clinical presenta-tion and prognosis factors are different, classic PNH and AA-PNH syndrome present roughly similar outcomes, affected mainly by complications.
The Group for Research in Adult Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (GRAALL) recently reported a significantly better outcome in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) harboring NOTCH1 and/or FBXW7 ...(N/F) mutations compared with unmutated T-ALL. Despite this, one third of patients with N/F-mutated T-ALL experienced relapse.
In a series of 212 adult T-ALLs included in the multicenter randomized GRAALL-2003 and -2005 trials, we searched for additional N/K-RAS mutations and PTEN defects (mutations and gene deletion).
N/F mutations were identified in 143 (67%) of 212 patients, and lack of N/F mutation was confirmed to be associated with a poor prognosis. K-RAS, N-RAS, and PTEN mutations/deletions were identified in three (1.6%) of 191, 17 (8.9%) of 191, and 21 (12%) of 175 patients, respectively. The favorable prognostic significance of N/F mutations was restricted to patients without RAS/PTEN abnormalities. These observations led us to propose a new T-ALL oncogenetic classifier defining low-risk patients as those with N/F mutation but no RAS/PTEN mutation (97 of 189 patients; 51%) and all other patients (49%; including 13% with N/F and RAS/PTEN mutations) as high-risk patients. In multivariable analysis, this oncogenetic classifier remained the only significant prognostic covariate (event-free survival: hazard ratio HR, 3.2; 95% CI, 1.9 to 5.15; P < .001; and overall survival: HR, 3.2; 95% CI, 1.9 to 5.6; P < .001).
These data demonstrate that the presence of N/F mutations in the absence of RAS or PTEN abnormalities predicts good outcome in almost 50% of adult T-ALL. Conversely, the absence of N/F or presence of RAS/PTEN alterations identifies the remaining cohort of patients with poor prognosis.
Objectives
The impact of conventional treatment for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) on the nutritional, cognitive, and functional status of elderly patients is seldom studied. This assessment was ...performed in the context of the LAMSA 2007 trial.
Methods
The trial enrolled 424 patients with de novo AML. Among them, 316 benefited from geriatric assessment (GA) including nutritional, cognitive, and functional status and were scored according to Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) and sorror for the prediction of treatment toxicity, morbidity, and mortality. Patients were investigated at diagnosis for three times during follow‐up.
Results
This study showed that AML and its treatment have no impact on cognitive (P = .554) nor functional status (P = .842 for Activity of Daily Living and P = .087 for Instrumental Activities of Daily Living). The nutritional status improved over time (P = .041). None of these three parameters at baseline, associated or not with ECOG and sorror scores, impacted survivals or toxicities.
Conclusions
The cognitive, functional, and nutritional status had no impact in this cohort of fit elderly AML patients without unfavorable cytogenetics. The GA tools used provided no additional information compared with ECOG and sorror scores, to predict toxicity, morbidity, or mortality due to intensive chemotherapy.
Risk factors for acute GVHD (AGVHD), overall survival, and transplant-related mortality were evaluated in adults receiving allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplants (1999-2005) from HLA-identical ...sibling donors (SDs; n = 3191) or unrelated donors (URDs; n = 2370) and reported to the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research, Minneapolis, MN. To understand the impact of transplant regimen on AGVHD risk, 6 treatment categories were evaluated: (1) myeloablative conditioning (MA) with total body irradiation (TBI) + PBSCs, (2) MA + TBI + BM, (3) MA + nonTBI + PBSCs, (4) MA + nonTBI + BM, (5) reduced intensity conditioning (RIC) + PBSCs, and (6) RIC + BM. The cumulative incidences of grades B-D AGVHD were 39% (95% confidence interval CI, 37%-41%) in the SD cohort and 59% (95% CI, 57%-61%) in the URD cohort. Patients receiving SD transplants with MA + nonTBI + BM and RIC + PBSCs had significantly lower risks of grades B-D AGVHD than patients in other treatment categories. Those receiving URD transplants with MA + TBI + BM, MA + nonTBI + BM, RIC + BM, or RIC + PBSCs had lower risks of grades B-D AGVHD than those in other treatment categories. The 5-year probabilities of survival were 46% (95% CI, 44%-49%) with SD transplants and 33% (95% CI, 31%-35%) with URD transplants. Conditioning intensity, TBI and graft source have a combined effect on risk of AGVHD that must be considered in deciding on a treatment strategy for individual patients.
Because a pediatric-inspired Group for Research on Adult Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (GRAALL) protocol yielded a markedly improved outcome in adults with Philadelphia chromosome–negative ALL, we ...aimed to reassess the role of allogeneic stem cell transplantation (SCT) in patients treated in the GRAALL-2003 and GRAALL-2005 trials. In all, 522 patients age 15 to 55 years old and presenting with at least 1 conventional high-risk factor were candidates for SCT in first complete remission. Among these, 282 (54%) received a transplant in first complete remission. At 3 years, posttransplant cumulative incidences of relapse, nonrelapse mortality, and relapse-free survival (RFS) were estimated at 19.5%, 15.5%, and 64.7%, respectively. Time-dependent analysis did not reveal a significant difference in RFS between SCT and no-SCT cohorts. However, SCT was associated with longer RFS in patients with postinduction minimal residual disease (MRD) ≥10−3 (hazard ratio, 0.40) but not in good MRD responders. In B-cell precursor ALL, SCT also benefitted patients with focal IKZF1 gene deletion (hazard ratio, 0.42). This article shows that poor early MRD response, in contrast to conventional ALL risk factors, is an excellent tool to identify patients who may benefit from allogeneic SCT in the context of intensified adult ALL therapy. Trial GRAALL-2003 was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT00222027; GRAALL-2005 was registered as #NCT00327678.
•SCT in first complete remission is associated with 69.5% 3-year overall survival in high-risk ALL adult patients treated with intensified pediatric-like protocol.•Poor early MRD response is a powerful tool to select patients who may benefit from SCT in first complete remission.
Voriconazole (VRC) overdoses are frequent and expose patients at high risk of adverse effects. This case–control study performed in hematological patients who benefited from VRC therapeutic drug ...monitoring from January 2012 to December 2015 aimed to identify risk factors of VRC overdose. Pharmacogenetic, biological, and demographic parameters at the time of VRC trough concentration (Cmin) were retrospectively collected from medical records. Cases (VRC overdose: defined by a VRC Cmin ≥ 4 mg/L; n = 31) were compared to controls (no VRC overdose: defined by VRC Cmin < 4 mg/L; n = 31) using nonparametric or chi‐square tests followed by multivariable analysis. VRC overdoses were significantly associated with high CRP and bilirubin levels, intravenous administration, and age in univariable analysis. In contrast, the proportion of CYP genotypes (CYP2C19, CYP3A4, or CYP3A5, considered alone or combined in a combined genetic score) were not significantly different between patients who experienced a VRC overdose and those who did not. In multivariable analysis, the class of CRP level (defined by median CRP levels of 96 mg/L) was the sole independent risk factor of VRC overdose (P < 0.01). Patients with CRP levels > 96 mg/L) had a 27‐fold (IC 95%: 6–106) higher risk of VRC overdose than patients with CRP levels ≤ 96 mg/L. This study demonstrates that inflammatory status, assessed by CRP levels, is the main risk factor of VRC overdose in French hematological patients, whereas pharmacogenetic determinants do not appear to be involved.
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