R-CVP versus R-CHOP versus R-FM for the initial treatment of patients with advanced-stage follicular lymphoma: results of the FOLL05 trial conducted by the Fondazione Italiana Linfomi.

Purpose: Although rituximab (R) is commonly used for patients with advanced follicular lymphoma (FL) requiring treatment, the optimal associated chemotherapy regimen has yet to be clarified.

Patients And Methods: We conducted an open-label, multicenter, randomized trial among adult patients with previously untreated stages II to IV FL to compare efficacy of eight doses of R associated with eight cycles of cyclophosphamide, vincristine, and prednisone (CVP) or six cycles of cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (CHOP) or six cycles of fludarabine and mitoxantrone (FM). The principal end point of the study was time to treatment failure (TTF).

Risk factors for impaired gonadal function in female Hodgkin lymphoma survivors: final analysis of a retrospective multicenter joint study from Italian and Brazilian Institutions.

Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is one of the most common types of cancer in the young and one of the most curable forms of cancer. Therefore, there has been an increasing interest in the study of long-term morbidities. The aims of the present study were to evaluate the prevalence and risk factors for impaired gonadal function in a retrospective cohort of 238 HL female survivors from Italy and Brazil and to analyse the role of oral contraceptives (OC) and GnRH-analogues.

Non-pegylated liposomal doxorubicin (Myocet®) in patients with poor-risk aggressive B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

The incidence of non-Hodgkin lymphomas increases with age. Non-pegylated liposomal formulations of doxorubicin (Myocet®) reduce systemic and cardiac toxicity especially in the elderly, who often have cardiac diseases. We treated 80 patients (mean age 70.

Long term outcome of patients with localized aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma treated with PROMECE-CYTABOM plus involved-field radiation therapy: a study by the Gruppo Italiano Studio Linfomi.

We conducted a retrospective analysis on 168 adult patients with newly diagnosed, limited-stage (I and II) diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) treated from 1988 to 2004 with PROMECE-CYTABOM (P-C) plus involved-field radiation therapy (IF-RT). At the end of P-C, the overall response rate was 92%. Radiotherapy (RT) was delivered to 84% of cases.

Rituximab to treat chronic lymphoproliferative disorder-associated pure red cell aplasia.

We report four patients (mean age 65 yr; range 40-77 yr) affected by acquired pure red cell aplasia (PRCA) complicating chronic lymphoid disorders and treated with anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody rituximab. Three out of four patients were given packed red cell transfusion. Steroids and recombinant erythropoietin (r-Epo) were also administered as first-line therapy without response.

Bortezomib (Velcade) for progressive myeloma after autologous stem cell transplantation and thalidomide.

Twenty-one patients with multiple myeloma, all relapsed after frontline autologous stem cell transplantation and all relapsed again after or resistant to thalidomide (employed as second line treatment) received bortezomib (1.3 mg/m(2) body surface twice weekly for 2 weeks followed by an interval of 10-12 days) without adjunct of steroids as third line therapy. Three patients died of progressive disease during the first 2 cycles with bortezomib.

Primary breast lymphoma: outcome of 7 patients and a review of the literature.

Primary breast lymphomas (PBL) are uncommon neoplasms. Seven PBL were diagnosed between March 1993 and October 2002. A lumpectomy (n=4) or radical mastectomy (n=3) was performed; 5 patients were in clinical stage (CS) II and 2 in CS IV; 6 patients received the CEOP regimen (cyclophosphamide, vincristine, epirubicin and prednisone) after surgery and 4 also had additional radiotherapy; 1 patient did not receive any treatment after local excision.

Heterogeneity of response to imatinib-mesylate (glivec) in patients with hypereosinophilic syndrome: implications for dosing and pathogenesis.

Four cases of hypereosinophilic syndrome (HES) treated with the tyrosine-kinase inhibitor imatinib-mesylate are reported. The drug was effective in three patients, but a prolonged clinical and hematological remission was obtained only in one patient, due to appearance of resistance or poor tolerability in the other cases. The dose of imatinib necessary to achieve a response ranged from 100 to 600 mg/d.

Vinblastine, bleomycin, and methotrexate chemotherapy plus irradiation for patients with early-stage, favorable Hodgkin lymphoma: the experience of the Gruppo Italiano Studio Linfomi.

Background: The acknowledged effectiveness of vinblastine, bleomycin, and methotrexate (VBM) chemotherapy in patients with early-stage Hodgkin lymphoma has been associated with conflicting toxicity reports.

Methods: One hundred forty-three patients were evaluated clinically and had favorable Stage IA or IIA Hodgkin lymphoma. Ninety-three patients were treated with the standard VBM schedule combined with extended-field radiotherapy (EF-RT), leaving the choice of the therapeutic sequence free.

Pamidronate reduces skeletal events but does not improve progression-free survival in early-stage untreated myeloma: results of a randomized trial.

Ninety patients with untreated, stage I-II A myeloma, were randomised to receive or not monthly infusions of pamidronate (PMD) for 1 year, without additional therapies. Follow-up ranged from 36 to 72 months (median 51 months). Three years after the start of the treatment, the disease had progressed in 25% of PMD treated patients and in 26.

Is the scoring system an effective clinico-biological tool in myeloid antigen positive adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia? Results of a long-term study.

Introduction: The classification and the clinical management of adult acute lymphoblastic leukemias (ALL) that co-express myeloid antigens (MyALL) remain controversial because of the confusion of terms and criteria to define these cases.

Materials And Methods: The characteristics of 112 adult ALL patients were reviewed. The scoring systems proposed by Catovsky and EGIL Group to classify MyALL were applied to qualify cases with score 0 (group I), 0.