Treatment of Refractory Anemia with Ring Sideroblasts Associated with Marked Thrombocytosis with Lenalidomide in a Patient Testing Negative for 5q Deletion and V617F and W515K/L Mutations.

Refractory anemia with ring sideroblasts associated with marked thrombocytosis (RARS-T) is a hematologic malignancy that often results in transfusion dependency and a hypercoagulable state. This rare disease currently lacks formal guidelines for treatment; however, various case reports have demonstrated efficacy in the use of lenalidomide. This immunomodulatory drug has shown promise in patients with 5q deletions, with reports of achieving transfusion independence and normalization of platelet counts.

Azacitidine as salvage therapy for acute myeloid leukemia in a severely ill patient.

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a hematological malignancy of myeloid progenitor cells that disrupt normal hematopoiesis. Current chemotherapy regimens result in complete remission in many cases; however, there exists no standard efficacious therapy for refractory acute myeloid leukemia. The hypomethylating agent, azacitidine, is effective in a limited number of such cases.

A phase II study of weekly paclitaxel and carboplatin in previously untreated patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer.

Purpose: Both paclitaxel (P) and carboplatin (C) have a significant activity in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Weekly administration of P is active, is dose intense, and has a favorable toxicity profile. To evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of weekly P and C in advanced-stage NSCLC, we initiated this phase II study in patients with advanced NSCLC (III B with pleural effusion and stage IV).

Infectious complications in patients receiving mobilization chemotherapy for autologous peripheral blood stem cell collection.

The purpose of this retrospective study was to evaluate infectious complications in patients receiving mobilization chemotherapy for stem cell collection prior to autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation. An additional goal was to evaluate risk factors associated with the development of infectious complications. At the Medical College of Georgia BMT center, 54 patients were administered mobilization chemotherapy for the purpose of collecting stem cells between June, 1997, and May, 2002.

Treatment of a patient with end-stage renal disease with Rituximab: pharmacokinetic evaluation suggests Rituximab is not eliminated by hemodialysis.

The purpose of this study was to determine if therapeutic levels of Rituximab could be achieved in a patient with renal failure being dialyzed and if Rituximab is removed by hemodialysis. A 54-year-old man with low-grade lymphoma and renal failure on hemodialysis received 8 weekly treatments of Rituximab at 375 mg/M(2). Serum Rituximab levels were obtained before and after each treatment, before and after dialysis following each treatment, as well as in the dialysate fluid.