Pentostatin, Cyclophosphamide, and Rituximab Followed by Alemtuzumab for Relapsed or Refractory Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia: A Phase 2 Trial of the ECOG-Acrin Cancer Research Group (E2903).

Patients with relapsed/refractory (R/R) chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) may benefit from salvage chemoimmunotherapy (CIT). To explore further the use of CIT in the pre-novel agent era, ECOG-ACRIN undertook a phase 2 trial (E2903) for R/R CLL utilizing pentostatin, cyclophosphamide, and rituximab (PCR) followed by a consolidation course of alemtuzumab. This trial enrolled 102 patients with a median age of 64 years.

Update on chronic lymphocytic leukemia: overview of new agents and comparative analysis.

Treatment options for lymphoproliferative disorders, including chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), increasingly are based upon molecular targets, taking advantage of the immense research output over the past several years elaborating genetic abnormalities, downstream signaling, cell-surface immunobiochemistry, and microenvironmental stimuli. The latter targets have been particularly useful for the treatment of multiple myeloma, transforming a previously uniformly, fatal disease to one of a more chronic and potentially curable disorder. Subsequently, new treatment approaches are less likely to be based on the more classic types of cytocidal therapy, which, although successful and essential for the more aggressive disorders that are immediately life-threatening, tend to be less so, with respect to quality of life, risk versus benefit ratio and overall curability for the indolent diseases.

Ocular manifestations of multiple myeloma: three cases and a review of the literature.

Background: Multiple myeloma is the most common plasma cell tumor; however, ocular plasmacytomas are rare and can appear in almost any structure of the eye. We present 3 cases, including 2 with unique ophthalmic ultrasound images of ocular plasmacytoma.

Case Reports: Three patients with ocular manifestations of multiple myeloma are described.

High-frequency ultrasound of extranodal limbal Rosai-Dorfman disease: affecting the conjunctiva, sclera, and cornea.

Purpose: To correlate the clinical, high-frequency ultrasound, and pathology characteristics of an epibulbar Rosai-Dorfman tumor.

Methods: We report a case of a steroid-resistant yellow perilimbal epibulbar tumor referred for ophthalmic oncology evaluation. It was documented by slit-lamp photography and evaluated by high-frequency ultrasound.

AIDS-related osseous Kaposi sarcoma.

Kaposi sarcoma (KS) can present with a myriad of clinical features ranging from widespread organ involvement to minimal disease. Osseous manifestations of KS are rare. When present, they are usually the direct consequence of contiguous spread from an adjacent cutaneous or nonosseous lesion.

Phase I clinical evaluation of weekly administration of the novel vascular-targeting agent, ZD6126, in patients with solid tumors.

Purpose: ZD6126 is a novel vascular-targeting agent that induces selective effects on the morphology of endothelial cells by disrupting the tubulin cytoskeleton. This leads to cell detachment and tumor vessel congestion, resulting in extensive central necrosis in a range of tumor xenograft models. Results from a phase I dose-escalation study of ZD6126 are reported.

Long-term survival in patients with human immunodeficiency virus-associated small non-cleaved cell lymphoma: the role for short course intensive chemotherapy.

While intensive chemotherapy is recommended for the treatment of non-HIV related adult small non-cleaved lymphoma (SNCL), including Burkitt's and Burkitt-like lymphoma, optimal treatment for patients with HIV-associated SNCL is not known. We assessed remissions and survival in a cohort of 44 consecutive HIV positive patients diagnosed with SNCL at our hospital between June 2000 and November 2001 using chart and pathology data. Median follow-up, survival and survival at the median follow-up time were 4.

Raltitrexed (Tomudex): an alternative choice in patients intolerant to 5-fluorouracil.

Raltitrexed (Tomudex), a classical folate antagonist, is a selective inhibitor of thymidylate synthase (TS). It has significant single-agent activity in metastatic colorectal cancer. Severe life-threatening toxicity related to the administration of 5-fluorouracil and leucovorin is described in two patients, both of whom were not deficient in dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase.