Efficacy and safety of biosimilar epoetin alpha in patients with chronic lymphoid neoplasms and chemotherapy-induced anaemia: An observational, retrospective, monocentric analysis.

Epoetin biosimilars are an alternative to originator erythropoietic agents in the treatment of chemotherapy-induced anaemia; however, their effects in patients with lymphoproliferative disorders remain unclear. This analysis examined the response of patients with lymphoproliferative disorders experiencing chemotherapy-induced anaemia to 4- or 8-week treatment with the biosimilar epoetin alpha. Treatment was initiated at first occurrence of haemoglobin (Hb) < 10 g/dL during chemotherapy and was stopped when Hb was >11 g/dL, when chemotherapy was completed, or in case of transfusion dependency.

Leukocytoclastic vasculitis associated with hairy cell leukemia at diagnosis: a case report and review of the literature.

Background: Autoimmune manifestations may occur in patients with hairy cell leukemia (HCL), and some rare cases of polyarteritis nodosa and leukocytoclastic vasculitis have been reported. However, data regarding the treatment of these cutaneous manifestations are lacking, given the rarity of the concomitance of HCL and vasculitic syndromes.

Case Presentation: We present a 37-year-old man with paraneoplastic leukocytoclastic vasculitis complicating newly diagnosed HCL.

Long-Term Responders After Brentuximab Vedotin: Single-Center Experience on Relapsed and Refractory Hodgkin Lymphoma and Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma Patients.

Background: Brentuximab vedotin (BV) has shown high overall response rate in refractory/relapsed Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) and systemic anaplastic large cell lymphoma (sALCL) with reported long-term response duration in clinical trials, but few data are available regarding its role in long-term outcomes in real life.

Patients And Methods: A single-center observational study was conducted on patients treated with BV in daily clinical practice to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of BV in HL and sALCL patients and to check whether clinical trial results are confirmed in a real-life context.

Results: The best response rate in the treated 53 patients (43 HL and 10 sALCL) was 69.

90-yttrium-ibritumomab tiuxetan consolidation of fludarabine, mitoxantrone, rituximab in intermediate/high-risk follicular lymphoma: updated long-term results after a median follow-up of 7 years.

Radioimmunotherapy (RIT) after an induction phase with conventional chemoimmunotherapy became an attractive strategy of consolidation for patients with advanced follicular lymphoma: in particular, in many studies RIT was represented by yttrium-90-ibritumomab tiuxetan ((90) Y-IT). Independently by the different front-line treatment, updates on the long-term follow-up of these studies are needed because the disease course of follicular lymphoma is characterised by multiple relapses and progressively shorter durations of response. We report updated long-term efficacy and toxicity results of a multicenter phase II study on sequential treatment with four cycles of fludarabine, mitoxantrone, and rituximab followed by (90) Y-IT as front-line therapy for untreated patients with intermediate/high-risk follicular lymphoma.

High efficacy of the MACOP-B regimen in the treatment of adult Langerhans cell histiocytosis, a 20 year experience.

Background: Adult Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) is an orphan disease. Chemotherapy is usually reserved to patients presenting with single system multifocal (SS-m) or multisystem (MS) disease but due to the lack of randomized studies no standard first line therapy has been defined yet. Pediatric regimens based on the vinblastine/prednisone backbone are not well tolerated in adults and probably less effective.

Multisystemic and Multiresistant Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis: A Case Treated With BRAF Inhibitor.

Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) is a rare proliferative disease with a wide spectrum of clinical presentations and, as a consequence, the treatment choice is unclear. Recently, detection of the BRAF V600E mutation changed the perspective of this disease, suggesting a possible use for BRAF inhibitors in its treatment. Herein, a case is presented of a patient with LCH undergoing treatment with vemurafenib after several lines of therapy.

The role of rituximab and positron emission tomography in the treatment of primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma: experience on 74 patients.

Regarding primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma (PMLBCL), there are several controversial topics that warrant further investigation: the superiority of third-generation regimens, the impact of rituximab, the use of involved field radiotherapy (RT) and the assessment of clinical response by positron emission tomography (PET). We report our experience on 74 PMLBCL patients treated with a combination of a third-generation chemotherapy regimen (MACOP-B) and rituximab: an observational retrospective single-centre study was conducted on patients diagnosed and treated between February 2002 and July 2011. All patients were evaluated by computed tomography scan and PET scan; after the final PET evaluation, PET-negative patients were observed, whereas PET-positive patients underwent mediastinal RT.

Fludarabine-Mitoxantrone-Rituximab regimen in untreated indolent non-follicular non-Hodgkin's lymphoma: experience on 143 patients.

Indolent non-follicular lymphomas (inFLs) are generally regarded as incurable, apart from extranodal mucosa-associated lymphatic tissue lymphomas, which can be partially cured by surgery, local radiotherapy, or antibiotic treatment. The aim of the present study was to test the degree of effectiveness and the safety of the regimen containing fludarabine, mitoxantrone, and rituximab (FMR) in inFL patients considering all the different entities belonging to this group. An observational retrospective study was conducted on 143 inFL patients providing that their first chemoimmunotherapy performed was FMR regimen and diagnosis from September 2000 to March 2011.

Prognostic value of interim positron emission tomography in patients with peripheral T-cell lymphoma.

The definition of the role of positron emission tomography (PET) in peripheral T-cell lymphomas (PTCLs) is still under investigation. The purpose of the present observational retrospective study was to assess the early prognostic value of PET after the first three cycles of therapy (PET+3), evaluating visual data in de novo PTCL patients treated in first line with standard chemotherapy and followed by both PET and computed tomography scan. Of 27 PET+3-negative patients, 19 also had a negative PET at the end of treatment (PET+6), whereas 8 of 27 had a positive final one; 6 of 7 PET+3-positive patients had a positive PET+6, whereas only 1 patient had a negative PET+6.

Is it really possible to cure hairy cell leukemia patients only with frontline therapy?

Hairy cell leukemia (HCL) patients could have an excellent prognosis with adequate treatment. Treatments are not generally curative but are extremely effective in inducing long-lasting clinical remissions. An observational retrospective study was conducted on a single-center registry of 144 patients with a median follow-up of 11.

Extranodal marginal zone B-cell lymphoma of the lung: experience with fludarabine and mitoxantrone-containing regimens.

Bronchial-associated lymphoid tissue (BALT) lymphoma is an extranodal primary pulmonary lymphoma. The optimal therapy for this rare disease is still debated, and few heterogeneous data are available in literature. The aim of our study was to critically review data of patients with BALT lymphoma treated in first-line therapy with fludarabine and mitoxantrone-containing regimens (with or without rituximab) to investigate the effectiveness and the safety of this approach and patients' survival.

Bortezomib as salvage treatment for heavily pretreated relapsed lymphoma patients: a multicenter retrospective study.

Current treatments for non-Hodgkin lymphomas are not optimally effective. Among new agents, bortezomib seems to play a pivotal role in the regulation of several cell pathways involved in the development of lymphomas. After results were obtained with clinical trials, we aimed to observe treatment with bortezomib in everyday clinical practice.

Combination of lenalidomide and rituximab in elderly patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma: a phase 2 trial.

Background: Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is the most common subtype of aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma and despite recent chemotherapeutic advances up to half of all patients relapse. Here we report the results from a phase 2, single-arm, single-center trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of lenalidomide plus rituximab in elderly patients with relapsed or refractory DLBCL.

Patients And Methods: Between March and June 2009, elderly patients (65 years of age or older) with relapsed/refractory DLBCL who had been heavily pretreated were recruited.

Primary bone lymphoma: evaluation of chemoimmunotherapy as front-line treatment in 21 patients.

Background: We performed a retrospective investigation to assess the efficacy of chemotherapy and rituximab as front-line treatment for primary bone lymphoma (PBL).

Patients And Methods: Between 1999 and 2009, 21 previously untreated patients received a diagnosis of PBL. All the patients were treated with anthracycline-containing chemotherapeutic regimens, with the addition of rituximab; 11 patients received consolidative radiation therapy after induction treatment.

Midtreatment 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron-emission tomography in aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Background: The use of (18) F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron-emission tomography (PET) scan has increased considerably in the clinical management of non-Hodgkin lymphoma patients, and its role as a prognostic factor during chemotherapy has been established recently.

Methods: Between May 2003 and May 2009, 91 newly diagnosed patients with primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma (PMLBCL) and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) were treated with 12 weekly cycles of rituximab-MACOP-B (n = 12 patients with PMLBCL), 6 cycles of rituximab-CHOP21 (n = 65 patients with DLBCL, aged < 60 years and 1 patient with PMLBCL), or 8 weekly cycles of rituximab-VNCOP-B (n = 13 DLBCL patients, aged ≥ 60 years). All patients underwent a staging PET examination at baseline and a midtreatment (interim) PET examination after 6 weeks of rituximab-MACOP-B treatment, 3 cycles of rituximab-CHOP21 treatment, or 4 weeks of rituximab-VNCOP-B treatment and again at the end of the chemo-immunotherapy regimen.

Yttrium-90 ibritumomab tiuxetan as a single agent in patients with pretreated B-cell lymphoma: evaluation of the long-term outcome.

Background: Based on historical data on the role of radioimmunotherapy (RIT) in pretreated non-Hodgkin lymphoma, we reviewed our hospital's clinical database.

Patients And Methods: Between 2005 and 2008, 57 patients previously treated with at least 1 rituximab-containing chemotherapy were treated with Yttrium-90-labeled ibritumomab tiuxetan ((90)Y-IT). The median number of pretreatments was 3 (range, 1-9 pretreatments).

Hairy cell leukemia: evaluation of the long-term outcome in 121 patients.

Background: Historically, the first treatment choices for hairy cell leukemia (HCL) were splenectomy and alpha-interferon. Recently, purine analogues (pentostatin and cladribine) changed radically the treatment modality, inducing complete and durable responses in the majority of patients.

Methods: The authors analyzed the outcome of different lines of therapy in 121 HCL patients followed in their institute from 1986 to 2008, with a median follow-up of 105 months.

Phase II trial of short-course R-CHOP followed by 90Y-ibritumomab tiuxetan in previously untreated high-risk elderly diffuse large B-cell lymphoma patients.

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the treatment with (90)Y-ibritumomab tiuxetan following a short-course of rituximab with cyclophosphamide-adriamycin-vincristine-prednisone (R-CHOP) in high-risk elderly patients with previously untreated diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL).

Experimental Design: From December 2006 to October 2008, 55 high-risk elderly (age > or =60 years) untreated DLBCL patients were treated in seven Italian institutions with a short-course of chemotherapy consisting of four cycles of R-CHOP21 followed by (90)Y-ibritumomab tiuxetan 6 to 10 weeks later.

Results: Of the 55 patients, 48 underwent radioimmunotherapy.

Cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, methotrexate, bleomicin and prednisone plus rituximab in untreated young patients with low-risk (age-adjusted international prognostic index 0-1) diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

Young patients (aged 18-60 years) with good-prognosis diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) [0 and 1 risk factor according to age-adjusted international prognostic index (aa-IPI)] are distinguished from patients with poor-prognosis. Six cycles of cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, prednisone (CHOP) in combination with rituximab achieved best results in young patients with low-risk DLBCL. We retrospectively analyzed the data of 82 patients (18-60 years) with untreated aa-IPI 0-1 DLBCL, from six Italian institutions, who underwent, between January 2002 and January 2007, rituximab-cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, methotrexate, bleomicin and prednisone (R-MACOP-B) therapy followed, in patients with bulky presentation, by 30-36 Gy involved-field radiation therapy (34 patients).