Summary Fludarabine plus cytarabine (Ara‐C) and idarubicin (FLAI) is an effective and well‐tolerated induction regimen for the treatment of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). This phase III trial compared the efficacy and toxicity of FLAI versus idarubicin plus Ara‐C and etoposide (ICE) in 112 newly diagnosed AML patients <60 years. Fifty‐seven patients received FLAI, as the first induction–remission course, and 55 patients received ICE. Post‐induction treatment consisted of high‐dose Ara‐C (HDAC). After HDAC, patients in complete remission (CR) received a second consolidation course (mitoxantrone, etoposide, Ara‐C) and autologous stem cell transplantation (auto‐SCT) or allogeneic (allo)‐SCT, according to the age, disease risk and donor availability. After a single induction course, CR rate was 74% in the FLAI arm and 51% in the ICE arm (P = 0·01), while death during induction was 2% and 9% respectively. Both haematological (P = 0·002) and non‐haematological (P = 0·0001) toxicities, especially gastrointestinal (i.e. nausea, vomiting, mucositis and diarrhoea), were significantly lower in FLAI arm. In both arms, relapses were more frequent in patients who were not submitted to allo‐SCT. After a median follow‐up of 17 months, 30% and 38% of the patients are in continuous CR in FLAI and ICE arm respectively. Our prospective randomised study confirmed the anti‐leukaemic effect and the low toxic profile of FLAI as induction treatment for newly diagnosed AML patients.

Progress in treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is slow and treatment intensification alone has limited effects, particularly in poor-risk cases. Poor-risk cases, that are identified mainly by prior history, leukemic cell mass and cytogenetic abnormalities, share multiple mechanisms of drug resistance that are responsible for treatment failure. Since Pgp-mediated resistance to anthracycline can be reduced with Idarubicin (IDA) and resistance to arabinosyl cytosine (AC) can be reduced with Fludarabine (FLUDA), we tested a combination of high dose AC (2000 mg/sqm, 5 doses), FLUDA (30 mg/sqm, 5 doses) and IDA (12 mg/sqm, 3 doses) for remission induction and consolidation in 45 consecutive cases of poor-risk AML. The complete remission (CR) rate was 71% after the first course and 82% overall, with a projected 2-year survival and relapse-free survival of 44% and 50% respectively. Non-hematologic toxicity was very mild, that is very important in elderly patients, but hemopoietic toxicity was substantial, with a time to hematologic recovery of 3 to 4 weeks and two cases of death in CR. Peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC) could be mobilized and collected successfully only in 11 cases. This three-drug combination is effective and has a limited non-hematologic toxicity, but FLUDA may increase the difficulty of obtaining PBSC early after remission induction.

Summary:An interim report evaluating the feasibility of myeloablative therapy followed by peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) autotransplant in patients aged Ͼ60 years is presented. In the last 2 years 19 patients Ͼ60 years old with several oncological conditions, mostly hematological, underwent PBSC autotransplant either as salvage therapy following relapse or resistance to conventional treatment, or as consolidating therapy as a part of a well defined protocol. There were 13 males and six females; the mean age was 66.9 years (range 61-76 years); nine patients had resistant or relapsed lymphoma, six myeloma, two acute leukemia, one Waldenstrom's disease and one lung cancer. Myeloablative schemes included BEAM exclusively for lymphomas, busulfan and melphalan (Bu-MPH) mainly for myeloma, busulfan and cyclophosphamide (Bu-CTX) for lymphomas and leukemia and VP-16 and CTX for lung cancer. Mobilization of CD34 ϩ cells was achieved in all patients with the combination of high-dose CTX and G-CSF with collections between 2.83 to 19.04 × 10 6 /kg (mean 7.1). All patients engrafted with a median time for recovery of PMN (Ͼ0.5 × 10 3 / l) of 10 days (range 8-12 days) and for PLT (Ͼ20 × 10 3 / l) of 12 days (range 10-17 days). Major responses were obtained in 15 of 16 patients evaluable for response and eight patients entered CR; overall eight patients are in CR, five are alive with disease, five are dead from disease progression and one is dead because of congestive heart failure 7 months following PBSC autotransplant. No early deaths following the procedure occurred; major side-effects were grade I-II mucositis (58%), fever with documented sepsis (10%), pneumonia (5%), cardiac, renal and liver toxicity (5%). Cardiac function was evaluated before and after myeloablative therapy by VEF in all patients; no significant modifications were necessary. In conclusion, our experience demonstrates that myeloablative therapies in older selected patients can be feasible; the feasibility of introducing PBSC

Background: A novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2)-induced pneumonia (COVID-19) emerged in December 2019 in China, spreading worldwide. The aim of the present investigation was to evaluate the immunological response and the clinical subset of peripheral lymphocyte subset alteration in COVID-19 infection. Methods: the study was conducted on four different clinical groups (n = 4; total n = 138). Each individual was assigned to different groups based on specific criteria evaluated at the admission such as fever, dyspnea, arterial blood gas analysis (ABG), oral-nasopharyngeal swab/RT-PCR, and thoracic CT-scan. Treatment was performed only after blood samples were collected from each patient (PP and PP) at day 1. The blood samples were analyzed and tested the same day (CBC and Flowcytometry). The positive–positive group (PP n = 45; F = 18/ M = 27; median age = 62.33), comprised individuals affected by COVID-19 who showed fever, dyspnea (ABG = pO2 < 60), confirmed positive by oral-nasopharyngeal swab/RT-PCR and with CT-scan showing ground-glass opacities. The negative–positive (NP; n = 37; F = 11/M = 26; median age = 75.94) or “COVID-like” group comprised individuals with fever and dyspnea (ABG = pO2 < 60), who tested negative to nasopharyngeal swab/RT-PCR, with CT-scans showing ground-glass opacities in the lungs. The negative–affected group (NA; n = 40; F = 14/M = 26; median age = 58.5) included individuals negative to COVID-19 (RT-PCR) but affected by different chronic respiratory diseases (the CT-scans didn’t show ground-glass opacities). Finally, the negative–negative group (NN; n = 16; F = 14/M = 2) included healthy patients (NN; n = 16; median age = 42.62). Data and findings were collected and compared. Results: Lymphocytes (%) cells showed a decline in COVID-19 patients. The subsets showed a significant association with the inflammatory status in COVID-19, especially with regard to increased neutrophils, T-killer, T-active, T-suppressor, and T-CD8+CD38+ in individuals belong to the either COVID-19 and Covid-like NP group. Conclusions: Peripheral lymphocyte subset alteration was associated with the clinical characteristics and progression of COVID-19. The level of sub-set cells T-lymphocytes (either high or low) and B-lymphocytes could be used as an independent predictor for COVID-19 severity and treatment efficacy.

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Induction treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is conventionally based on regimens containing cytarabine (Ara-C), one anthracycline and, sometimes, a third drug, such as etoposide. Primary P-glycoprotein (Pgp) overexpression is the most important mechanism of multidrug resistance (MDR) in AML cells and it is almost always associated with less response to treatment. To deal with this problem, in 1997, we started a treatment program with a regimen including Fludarabine (FLUDA) for the induction of newly diagnosed AML patients. FLUDA showed to be toxic against the MDR cells, in vitro, and able to enhance Ara-C cytotoxicity by increasing cell concentration of Ara-C 5′ triphosphate and inhibiting DNA repair. Between 1997 and 2004, 110 newly diagnosed AML patients aged less than 60 years were induced with FLAI (Fludarabine 25 mg/sqm/day days 1–5, Ara-C 2 gr/sqm/day days 1–5, Idarubicine 10 mg/sqm/day days 1, 3, 5) in the context of three consecutive prospective multicentric trials. At diagnosis, all the patients were assessed for the Pgp expression by an indirect immunofluorescence method with the anti-p170 monoclonal antibody MRK-16. The results were expressed as the mean fluorescence index (MFI) and patients with a MFI > 6 were setted as MDR+ve. We correlated the Pgp-expression, with the response to the induction. Interestingly, the Pgp+ve (MFI > 6) patients treated with FLAI entered CR as well as the Pgp-ve (MFI < 6). Twenty-four out of 39 Pgp+ve patients (61%) and 54 out of 71 Pgp-ve patients (76%) achieved a CR after a single induction course of FLAI (p= 0.1). This observation strongly supported the original hypothesis that fludarabine could play a favourable role against MDR+ve cells. In order to validate this finding we compared the results obtained in an hystorical group of 136 newly diagnosed AML patients younger than 60 years treated with a non-fludarabine containing regimen AI (Ara-C 200 mg/sqm/day c.i. days 1 - 7, Idarubicine 10 mg/sqm/day days 1, 3, 5). In the non-fludarabine group, 22 out of 69 Pgp+ve patients (32%) and 42 out of 67 Pgp-ve patients (63%) achieved a CR after one course of the induction therapy. This difference was stastically significant (p= 0.0006). Based on these observations, we decided to conduct a match pair study to confirm the superiority of FLAI for overcoming the primary multidrug resistance Pgp-mediated in AML.

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Acute myeloid leukaemias (AMLs) are a heterogeneous family of hemopoietic malignancies that share a high frequency and a high degree of Pgp-mediated multidrug resistance (MDR), one of the major causes of treatment failure. Induction treatment (FLAI), including 5 days administration of Idarubicin (IDA- 10mg/sqm/day), in combination with high-dose Arabinosyl Cytosine (HDAC-2g/sqm/day) and Fludarabine (FLUDA-25mg/sqm/day) was adopted as induction treatment of newly diagnosed patients with AML, except acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). In our previous experience (Russo et al. Leuk. Lymphoma, 2001), FLAI regimen showed to be highly effective (CR rate 72%), also in AML MDR-pos patients, with a low extra-hematological toxicity. In this prospective randomized trial, FLAI was compared with ICE (IDA 10mg/sqm/day x 3 days + AC p.c 100mg/sqm/day x 10 days + VP16 100mg/sqm/day x 5 days) for induction of remission. Post-induction treatment program included: HDAC (3g/sqm/12h x 6 days), MEC (Mitoxantrone 12 mg/sqm/day x 4 days, Etoposide 100 mg/sqm/day x 4 days, Cytarabine 1 gr/sqm/day x 4 days) and allogeneic or autologous BMT. Over a period of 2 years, 118 patients were randomly assigned to FLAI (67) or ICE (51). The clinical and hematological characteristics of the two patient population were not different. In the FLAI group, the complete remission (CR) rate was 72% after the first course and 76% after HDAC; in the ICE group, the CR rate was 53% and 69%, respectively (P <0,02). Interestingly, the CR rate of MDR-pos. and MDR-neg. patients treated with FLAI was similar (68% vs 67%), while the CR rate of MDR-pos. and MDR-neg. patients treated with ICE showed a significant trend in favour of MDR negative patients (20% vs 55%). The median time to recovery of neutrophils > 1.0 x 109/L and platelets > 50 x 109/L was significantly better in FLAI arm than in ICE arm. In both groups, it was seen an approximately equal rate of FUO, Gram negative/Gram positive bacteremias and systemic fungal infections. Infections and haemorrhages caused death during induction (DDI) in 3% of patients treated with FLAI and in 10% of patients treated with ICE. Non-hematological toxicity of FLAI was mild and significantly lower than ICE. In particular, in the FLAI arm, only 3/67 pts developed a grade 3 or 4 gastro-intestinal toxicity, whereas in ICE arm 16/51 patients experienced this toxicity (p=0.0001). Other grade 3 or 4 toxicity (ipertransaminasemia, cutaneus toxicity, renal or cardiac failure) were seen in 1/67 pts in FLAI arm versus 7/51 pts in ICE arm (p=0.02). In conclusion, these preliminary results strongly suggest that FLAI, as single induction course, is an highly effective regimen with a limited non-haematologic toxicity. Furthermore, FLAI seems to be more effective than ICE to overcome Pgp-mediated multidrug resistance.