Decitabine administered in 6-week cycles is active in older patients with higher-risk MDS, resulting in improvements of OS and AMLFS (nonsignificant), of PFS and AML transformation (significant), and of QOL. Short MDS duration was an independent adverse prognosticator.

A B S T R A C T PurposeTo compare the antitumor efficacy of three different anthracyclines in combination with cytarabine and etoposide in adult patients with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Patients and MethodsWe randomly assigned 2,157 patients (age range, 15 to 60 years) to receive intensive induction-consolidation chemotherapy containing either daunorubicin, idarubicin, or mitoxantrone. After achieving complete remission (CR), patients were assigned to undergo either allogeneic or autologous stem-cell transplantation (SCT), depending on the availability of a sibling donor. ResultsThe overall CR rate (69%) was similar in the three groups. Autologous SCT was performed in 37% of cases in the daunorubicin arm versus only 29% and 31% in mitoxantrone and idarubicin, respectively (P Ͻ .001). However, the disease-free survival (DFS) and survival from CR were significantly shorter in the daunorubicin arm: the 5-year DFS was 29% versus 37% and 37% in mitoxantrone and idarubicin, respectively. The proportion of patients who underwent allogeneic SCT (22%) was equivalent in the three treatment groups, and the outcome was similar as well: the 5-year overall survival rates were 34%, 34%, and 31%, respectively. ConclusionIn adult patients with AML who do not receive an allogeneic SCT, the use of mitoxantrone or idarubicin instead of daunorubicin enhances the long-term efficacy of chemotherapy.

Caspofungin provided an observed response rate compatible with the null hypothesis of a true response rate of < or =35%. Underlying disease-related factors had a major impact on results.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

Background. In 2005 we analyzed the results of a prospective randomized phase III intergroup trial evaluating the role of rituximab (R) both in remission induction and maintenance treatment of 465 relapsed/resistant follicular lymphoma (FL) patients. Major conclusions were that addition of R to CHOP induction yielded an increased ORR and CR rate, and that R maintenance strongly improved median progression free survival (PFS), both after induction with CHOP and R-CHOP, and overall survival (OS (van Oers et al Blood2006;108:3295). At that time the median follow for the maintenance phase was 33 months. Now we report the long-term outcome of maintenance treatment, with a median follow up of 6 years from start of maintenance. Study design. Patients with stages III or IV FL at initial diagnosis and relapsed after or resistant to a maximum of two non-anthracycline containing systemic chemotherapy regimens, were randomized to remission induction with either 6 cycles of standard CHOP (once every 3 weeks) or CHOP + R (375 mg/m2 at day 1 of each cycle of CHOP). Those with a complete or partial remission after 6 cycles of therapy underwent a second randomization to no further treatment (observation) or maintenance treatment with R (375 mg/m2 once every 3 months) until relapse or for a maximum period of two years. Results. 465 patients were randomized to induction with either CHOP (231) or R-CHOP (234). As reported, CHOP and R-CHOP induction yielded similar partial response rates (57% vs.56%), but significantly different CR rates (16% and 29%; p=0.0001). 334 patients were randomized to either R maintenance treatment (167) or observation (167). R maintenance resulted in a highly significant improvement of PFS: median 3.7 years versus 1.3 years in the observation arm (p<0.0001; hazard ratio 0.55). The advantage of R maintenance was observed both after CHOP induction (p< 0001: HR 0.37) and R-CHOP induction (p= 0.003; HR 0.69). The 5 years OS was 74% in the R maintenance arm and 64 % in the observation arm (p=0.07). That the highly improved PFS after R maintenance did not translate into a significant OS advantage might partially be explained by the fact that 41% of progressing patients received R as salvage therapy. This varied according to treatment arm: from 59% after CHOP followed by observation to 26% after R-CHOP followed by R maintenance. R maintenance was associated with a significant increase in grade 3/4 infections: 9.7% vs.2.4% (p= 0.01). 7 of the 167 patients had to discontinue R maintenance because of toxicity, mostly recurrent infection. Conclusion. With long term follow-up we confirm the superior PFS with R maintenance. The improvement of OS did not reach statistical significance, possibly due to the abundant use of R in post-protocol salvage treatment.

The therapeutic activity and toxicity profile of gemtuzumab ozogamicin were assessed in 40 patients 460 years of age with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who were not considered eligible for conventional chemotherapy because of advanced age or poor performance status. The drug was administered at the dose of 9 mg/m 2 as a single 2-h i.v. infusion on days 1 and 15. Patients who achieved a complete remission (CR/CRp) were to receive a consolidation with two additional injections of the immunotoxin at the same dose. The overall CR/CRp rate was 17% (95% CI, 8-32%). The CR/CRp rate in patients 61-75 years old was 33% (6/18), and 5% (1/22) in patients older than 75 years. Induction death occurred in seven patients (17%), all aged above 75 years. Overall survival was significantly longer in patients aged 61-75 years than in older individuals (P ¼ 0.05), and in CD33 þ cases than in CD33À cases (P ¼ 0.05). We conclude that the dose/schedule of gemtuzumab ozogamicin used in this trial is too toxic in the age group over 75 years. For these patients, additional studies with reduced doses of the immunotoxin are warranted.