scholarly journals Vitreous levels of interleukin-35 as a prognostic factor in B-cell vitreoretinal lymphoma

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Atsunobu Takeda ◽  
Eiichi Hasegawa ◽  
Shintaro Nakao ◽  
Keijiro Ishikawa ◽  
Yusuke Murakami ◽  
...  

Abstract Vitreoretinal lymphoma (VRL) is a rare disease of B-cell origin with poor prognosis. Regulatory cytokines promote tumor development by suppressing antitumor immunity in several cancer types, including B-cell malignancies. To identify the regulatory cytokines associated with poor prognosis in patients with B-cell VRL, we determined the regulatory cytokines profiles in the vitreous humor of patients with VRL. This retrospective study included 22 patients with VRL, 24 with non-infectious uveitis (NIU), and 20 with idiopathic epiretinal membrane (control). Vitreous concentrations of regulatory cytokines were assessed using a cytometric beads assay and association with clinical data was examined. IL-35 and soluble IL-2 receptor α levels were significantly higher in patients with VRL and NIU than those in the control group. The 5-year overall survival (OS) rates for the group with high intravitreal IL-35 was significantly poorer than those for the group with low intravitreal IL-35, who were diagnosed with VRL at the onset (P = 0.024, log-rank test). The 5-year OS rates with intravitreal IL-35 levels above and below the median were 40.0% and 83.3%, respectively. Our results suggest that high intravitreal IL-35 levels indicate poor prognosis for patients diagnosed with B-cell VRL at the onset.

2011 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 401-406 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dana Lustbader ◽  
Renee Pekmezaris ◽  
Michael Frankenthaler ◽  
Rajni Walia ◽  
Frederick Smith ◽  
...  

AbstractObjective:The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of a palliative medicine consultation on medical intensive care unit (MICU) and hospital length of stay, Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) designation, and location of death for MICU patients who died during hospitalization.Method:A comparison of two retrospective cohorts in a 17-bed MICU in a tertiary care university-affiliated hospital was conducted. Patients admitted to the MICU between January 1, 2003 and June 30, 2004 (N = 515) were compared to MICU patients who had had a palliative medicine consultation between January 1, 2005 and June 1, 2009 (N = 693). To control for disease severity, only patients in both cohorts who died during their hospitalization were considered for this study.Results:Palliative medicine consultation reduced time until death during the entire hospitalization (log-rank test,p < 0.01). Time from MICU admission until death was also reduced (log-rank test,p < 0.01), further demonstrating the impact of the palliative care consultation on the duration of dying for hospitalized patients. The intervention group contained a significantly higher percentage of patients with a DNR designation at death than did the control group (86% vs. 68%, χ2test,p < 0.0001).Significance of results:Palliative medicine consultation is associated with an increased rate of DNR designation and reduced time until death. Patients in the intervention group were also more likely to die outside the MICU as compared to controls in the usual care group.


Cancers ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 491 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heng-Wei Liu ◽  
Yu-Kai Su ◽  
Oluwaseun Bamodu ◽  
Dueng-Yuan Hueng ◽  
Wei-Hwa Lee ◽  
...  

Background: Glioblastoma (GBM), a malignant form of glioma, is characterized by resistance to therapy and poor prognosis. Accumulating evidence shows that the initiation, propagation, and recurrence of GBM is attributable to the presence of GBM stem cells (GBM-CSCs). Experimental approach: Herein, we investigated the effect of 4-Acetylantroquinonol B (4-AAQB), a bioactive isolate of Antrodia cinnamomea, on GBM cell viability, oncogenic, and CSCs-like activities. Results: We observed that aberrant expression of catenin is characteristic of GBM, compared to other glioma types (p = 0.0001, log-rank test = 475.2), and correlates with poor prognosis of GBM patients. Lower grade glioma and glioblastoma patients (n = 1152) with low catenin expression had 25% and 21.5% better overall survival than those with high catenin expression at the 5 and 10-year time-points, respectively (p = 3.57e-11, log-rank test = 43.8). Immunohistochemistry demonstrated that compared with adjacent non-tumor brain tissue, primary and recurrent GBM exhibited enhanced catenin expression (~10-fold, p < 0.001). Western blot analysis showed that 4-AAQB significantly downregulated β-catenin and dysregulated the catenin/LEF1/Stat3 signaling axis in U87MG and DBTRG-05MG cells, dose-dependently. 4-AAQB–induced downregulation of catenin positively correlated with reduced Sox2 and Oct4 nuclear expression in the cells. Furthermore, 4-AAQB markedly reduced the viability of U87MG and DBTRG-05MG cells with 48 h IC50 of 9.2 M and 12.5 M, respectively, effectively inhibited the nuclear catenin, limited the migration and invasion of GBM cells, with concurrent downregulation of catenin, vimentin, and slug; similarly, colony and tumorsphere formation was significantly attenuated with reduced expression of c-Myc and KLF4 proteins. Conclusions: Summarily, we show for the first time that 4-AAQB suppresses the tumor-promoting catenin/LEF1/Stat3 signaling, and inhibited CSCs-induced oncogenic activities in GBM in vitro, with in vivo validation; thus projecting 4-AAQB as a potent therapeutic agent for anti-GBM target therapy.


Blood ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 134 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 4118-4118
Author(s):  
Haruya Okamoto ◽  
Akihiro Miyashita ◽  
Hiroaki Nagata ◽  
Yasuhiko Tsutsumi ◽  
Yuri Kamitsuji ◽  
...  

<Background> Serum soluble interleukin-2 receptor (sIL2R) levels are often measured to evaluate the state of lymphoma. The serum sIL2R level at diagnosis has been reported to be correlated with the prognosis of diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) patients treated with the R-CHOP regimen. However, it is unclear whether interim sIL2R levels are associated with prognosis in DLBCL. Here, we analyzed the prognostic impact of interim serum sIL2R levels in DLBCL. <Patients and Methods> We retrospectively examined data for DLBCL patients who started receiving chemotherapy at the Japanese Red Cross Society Kyoto Daini Hospital between January 2012 and December 2018. All of the patients received R-CHOP-like regimens (rituximab plus pirarubicin or adriamycin, cyclophosphamide, vincristine, and prednisolone). The interim sIL2R level (I-IL2R) was defined as the value measured after the third chemotherapy cycle. I-IL2R levels of >700 U/ml were regarded as positive. The primary endpoints of this study were progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). The unadjusted probabilities of PFS and OS were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. The log-rank test and multivariate Cox regression analysis were used to assess the prognostic value of each clinical variable. <Results> In total, 102 patients were enrolled. The patients' median age was 73.5 years (range, 35-88), 58 patients (56.9%) were male, and 52 (51.0%) had poor revised International Prognostic Index scores. The median follow-up time was 25.2 months (range, 3.7-88.6). Twenty-three patients (22.5%) were I-IL2R-positive (>700 U/ml). Univariate analysis revealed that I-IL2R-positivity was associated with a poor prognosis. The 3-y PFS rates of the I-IL2R-negative (<700 U/ml) and I- IL2R-positive (>700 U/ml) patients were 60.4% (95% confidence interval [95%CI], 46.2-71.9) and 37.5% (95%CI, 15.7-59.4; p<0.001, log-rank test), respectively, and their 3-y OS rates were 82.2% (95%CI, 69.7-89.9) and 37.4% (95%CI, 13.8-61.4; p<0.001, log-rank test), respectively. Multivariate analysis confirmed that the I-IL2R level is independently associated with prognosis. <Conclusion> The I-IL2R level of >700 U/ml patients had poor prognosis. The I-IL2R level can be used to predict the outcomes of DLBCL patients. IL2R levels should be measured during chemotherapy, and I-IL2R-positive patients could be targeted with high-dose or novel therapies. As this study was based on a retrospective analysis and involved a small cohort and a limited follow-up period, further studies are needed to confirm the prognostic impact of I-IL2R. Figure Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


Blood ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 110 (11) ◽  
pp. 1901-1901
Author(s):  
Luciano J. Costa ◽  
Andrew L. Feldman ◽  
Ivana N. Micallef ◽  
David J. Inward ◽  
Patrick B. Johnston ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Germinal center B cell-like (GCB) DLBCL, as determined by gene expression profiling or immunohistochemistry, is more likely to be cured by initial conventional chemoimmunotherapy than non-germinal center B cell-like (non-GCB) DLBCL. For patients with relapsed or refractory chemosensitive DLBCL, high-dose chemotherapy and autologous hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) transplant is considered standard-of-care treatment, but it is unknown whether the outcome of these patients is similarly influenced by the subtype of DLBCL. We therefore explored the differences between patients with GCB and non-GCB DLBCL as regards their clinical features at relapse after first line therapy and their outcome following salvage autologous HSC transplant. Methods: Patients undergoing BEAM conditioning and autologous HSC transplantation for relapsed or refractory chemosensitive DLBCL at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN between 2001 and 2006 were included. Immunohistochemical analysis was performed for CD10, BCL-6 and MUM1 allowing classification in GCB and non-GCB-like DLBCL, as well as for BCL-2. GCB and non-GCB groups were compared in terms of known prognostic factors at time of progression and outcome after HSC transplant Results: Fifty-nine patients were included and had retrievable tumor samples to allow immunohistochemical analysis. Median follow-up of survivors was 25 months; median age at the time of transplant was 60 years (range 17–77); All patients had failed at least one previous anthracycline-based regimen (15 had refractory disease). Overall, 25/59 cases (42%) were positive for CD10, 32/58 (55%) for BCL-6, and 19/58 (32%) for MUM1. Thirty-two patients (54%) were classified as having GCB and 27 (46%) non-GCB-like DLBCL. Patients in the GCB and non-GCB group had similar time to progression (TTP) (median 12.5 months vs. 11 months, Wilcoxon P=0.81) after first line therapy and similar IPI-R scores (Chi-square, P=0.38). In univariate analysis, GCB and non-GCB did not differ in time to relapse after HSC transplant (log rank test P=0.77) or survival (log rank test P=0.48; figure). The lack of demonstrable difference in survival persisted even after correction for IPI-R and TTP, factors know to affect transplant outcome (Cox regression, RR=0.80 for GCB; P=0.28). BCL-2 was highly expressed in both GCB (81%) and non-GCB (96%) and did not correlate with outcome in the entire population nor in any of the two groups. Conclusion: Patients with chemosensitive relapsed or refractory GCB and non-GCB-like DLBCL derive similar benefit from autologous HSC transplant. Figure Figure


Blood ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 114 (22) ◽  
pp. 98-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Violaine Safar ◽  
Jehan Dupuis ◽  
Fabrice Jardin ◽  
Christophe Fruchart ◽  
Stéphane Bardet ◽  
...  

Abstract Abstract 98 Background: 18Fluorodeoxyglucose PET has been quickly integrated to the diagnostic and therapeutic armamentarium in diffuse large-B cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Moreover, early PET appears a promising prognostic tool for tailoring treatment strategies. We evaluated the predictive value of early PET in a large prospective cohort of patients treated with immunochemotherapy. Patients and methods: 112 previously untreated patients from three institutions were treated between January 2000 and October 2008 for DLBCL using an anthracycline-based regimen plus Rituximab. Chemotherapy was either an R-CHOP21 regimen (n=57) or a dose-dense regimen (R-ACVBP, n=31 or R-CHOP14, n= 24). PET was performed at diagnosis and after two cycles of treatment. Early PET results were interpreted visually as positive (PET2p) or negative (PET2n), as previously described1, but did not modify the scheduled therapy. Results: Median age at diagnosis was 59 years (range 20–79 years) and 67% of patients were males, 44% were over 60 years, 81% presented with an advanced Ann Arbor stage (III–IV), 29% had a poor performance status (ECOG 2-4), 36% had more than one extra-nodal site involved and LDH were elevated in 68%. The repartition on the basis of the International Prognosis Index was the following: low=5%, low-intermediate =35%, intermediate-high=37% and high risk=23%. After two cycles, 70 patients (63%) were PET2n and 42 (38%) were PET2p (38 patients in partial response and 4 with stable disease). Median follow-up was 38 months for living patients. Ten of 70 (14%) PET2n patients showed progression versus 22 of 42 (52%) PET2p patients. The estimated 5-year progression free survival (PFS) was 81% for PET2n and 47% for PET2p patients (log rank test, p<0.0001). Prognostic value of early PET was significant in terms of PFS whether patients were treated with R-CHOP21 (p=0.0006) or with dose-dense regimens (p=0.0056). Nine of 70 (13%) PET2n and 15 of 42 (36%) PET2p patients died. The estimated 5-year overall survival (OS) was 88% for PET2n and 62% for PET2p patients (log rank test, p<0.0034). Prognostic value of early PET was significant in terms of OS for patients treated with R-CHOP21 (p=0. 0225) but not for those treated with dose-dense regimens (p=0.133). Conclusion: Early PET after 2 cycles of treatment is a powerful tool to predict outcome in DLBCL patients treated with Rituximab combined with an anthracycline-based chemotherapy. It brings promising opportunities in the designing of new treatment strategies for DLBCL. Reference : 1 Haioun et al. Blood 2005; 106(4):1376–81. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


Blood ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 126 (23) ◽  
pp. 1460-1460 ◽  
Author(s):  
Uma Borate ◽  
Deniz Peker ◽  
James M. Foran ◽  
Luciano J Costa

Abstract Introduction: DLBCL is an aggressive mature B-cell neoplasm with a low incidence in African Americans and other minority groups. The differences in outcomes based on DLBCL Cell of Origin(COO) immunophenotypic subtypes as defined by the Hans algorithm using CD10, Bcl-6, and MUM1 namely germinal center B-cell (GCB) and non-GCB have been based on predominantly Caucasian patients (pts) and their impact on outcomes in AA patients have not been well studied. Material and Methods: A retrospective review of clinicopathologic data from patients diagnosed and treated for DLBCL at UAB between 2002-2011 was conducted following IRB approval .The data collected included patient demographics (age, sex, self identified race), DLBCL subtype (GCB vs. non-GCB based on the Hans algorithm), disease stage, first line therapy regimens and patient outcomes. We analyzed group differences in both C and AA pts with GCB and non-GCB subtypes of DLBCL in all the parameters mentioned above using the chi square test for categorical variables,. In addition, OS was examined using Kaplan Meier curves and the log rank test. We performed univariate and multivariate analyses to examine the effects of variables of interest on OS. All results were considered statistically significant at α=0.05 level. Results: We included a total of 259 pts in our analysis after excluding patients with missing demographics, disease related data, primary mediastianal DLBCL, missing first line therapy data and outcomes data as well as race identified as other than C or AA. 45 patients (17.4%) of patients self identified as AA and 214 (82.6%) self identified as Caucasian. The mean age of presentation for AA pts was 52 yrs compared to 58 years for C patients (p=0.045) and 28 (62.2%) AA patients presented with advanced Stage III and IV disease compared to 89 (44.6%) of C patients (P=0.04) both being statistically significant. Based on COO characterization using immunophenotype by Hans algorithm, 27 AA pts (60%) and 145(67%) of C pts were GCB by immunophenotype(p=0.317). 95% of all patients received R-CHOP as first line therapy , 3.5% received R-CVP and the remaining received a combination of Rituximab alone, FCR or radiation therapy .On analyzing OS based on COO, AA patients did not demonstrate a significant difference in OS based on COO with both GCB and non-GCB groups having a median OS of 84 months ( p=0.74)( 95% CI 72-121 months). However, the median OS for C pts with GCB phenotype was 104 months compared to 25 months for the non-GCB phenotype and the median OS was 55 months +/-12.6 months for the C pt group as a whole( p<0.001 by log rank test )which was highly statistically significant.Multivariate analyses of different factors affecting OS showed only COO (p<0.001), age(p=0.07) and stage of DLBCL at presentation(p=0.027) to affect OS significantly.Race,Gender and IPI score did not appear to impact OS significantly. Conclusion: Our study aimed to study the impact of COO and Race on OS in DLBCL especially in AA pts where this has not been well characterized. Our results show that as expected the incidence of DLBCL is lower in AA patients compared to C pts. However, DLBCL presents at younger age and with more advanced stage in AA than in C patients. Although distribution of COO is similar in AA and C patients, our findings suggest that COO may not have the same effect on prognosis among AA pts as it does among the C pt population where we see non-GCB patients do significantly worse than their GCB counterparts. This may reflect a different disease biology in AA patients that has yet to be understood. Our study limitations include not taking into account disease relapse, second line therapy and effect of autologous bone marrow transplantation on overall survival. Figure 1. Figure 1. Figure 2. Figure 2. Figure 3. Figure 3. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. 5520-5520 ◽  
Author(s):  
Myong Cheol Lim ◽  
Suk-Joon Chang ◽  
Heong Jong Yoo ◽  
Byung-Ho Nam ◽  
Robert Bristow ◽  
...  

5520 Background: Cytoreductive surgery followed by taxane and platinum-based chemotherapy is standard treatment for advanced ovarian cancer. We compared results of randomly allocated HIPEC in primary advanced epithelial ovarian cancer who have optimal cytoreductive surgery in this prospective randomized multicenter trial. The study endpoint is to evaluate progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). Methods: 184 patients staged III and IV were randomly allocated to trial arm (HIPEC, cisplatin 75 mg/m2, 90 min) or control arm (no HIPEC), intraoperatively based on residual tumor (size <1cm) from July 2010 to January 2016. The groups were well balanced according to the age, body mass index, performance status, stage, histology, serum CA125 level, and use of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) at study entry. Results: 184 pts (HIPEC, 92; control, 92) were included in this preplanned analysis. No mortality after surgery ± HIPEC was identified in both groups. Postoperative outcomes including extent of surgery, estimated blood loss, residual tumor, and hospitalization day were not different between both group, except operation time (487 vs. 404 min, p<0.001) due to HIPEC procedure. The most common adverse event was anemia: 67.4% in HIPEC and 50% in control group (p=0.025). The other toxicity common in HIPEC group is the elevation of creatinine (15.2% vs. 4.3%, p=0.026). There were no differences between both groups for transfusion (35.9 vs. 29.3, p=0.432), neutropenia (19.6 vs. 10.9%, p=0.151), and thrombocytopenia (9.8 vs. 3.3%, p=0.136). Two-year PFS was 43.2% and 43.5% and 5-year PFS was 20.9% and 16.0% in HIPEC and control group, respectively (p=0.569). Five-year OS was 51.0% and 49.4% in HIPEC and control group, respectively (p=0.574). In women who received NAC, the median PFS for HIPEC and control group were 20 and 19 months, respectively (log-rank test, p = 0.137) and the median OS for HIPEC and control group were 54 and 51 months, respectively (log-rank test, p = 0.407). In the subgroup with NAC, 2-year PFS was 37.2% in HIPEC group and 29.5% in control group and 5-year OS was 47.9% in HIPEC group and 27.7% in control group. After 20 months in PFS and 30 months in OS, two survival curves in women who received NAC showed the trend of gradual distinction, favoring HIPEC group. Conclusions: No mortality was identified and postoperative morbidities were not statistically different between two groups except anemia and creatinine elevation in HIPEC group. The survival analysis did not show the statistical superiority of the HIPEC arm. More follow-up is required to confirm the impact of HIPEC on long-term survival outcome in ovarian cancer, especially in NAC group. Clinical trial information: NCT01091636.


2009 ◽  
Vol 27 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e14000-e14000 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Parsons ◽  
M. Hennig ◽  
R. Linke ◽  
A. Klein ◽  
A. Lahr ◽  
...  

e14000 Background: Parsons et al. (ASCO 2008) reported the results of a pivotal phase II/III trial in patients with malignant ascites due to epithelial cancer. Treatment with the trifunctional antibody catumaxomab resulted in a clinically relevant prolongation of puncture-free survival, defined as the time to the next therapeutic puncture or the time to death, whichever occurred first. Malignant ascites is a typical late-stage manifestation of cancer associated with a poor prognosis and survival. Effective treatment options are limited. It is thus of special interest if all patient subgroups derive objective benefit from treatment. Methods: A post-hoc analysis was performed on the 258 patients with epithelial tumors treated with catumaxomab + paracentesis or paracentesis alone (control) in the pivotal trial to investigate any association between the primary endpoint (puncture-free survival) and the primary tumor, metastases, or other prognostic parameters. Results: Puncture-free survival was lower in patients with non-ovarian vs ovarian tumors and those with a poor prognosis (metastases vs no metastases, elderly vs younger, or low vs serum protein level). However, there was always a statistically significant treatment effect for catumaxomab compared with the respective control group (p≤0.0001, log rank test, for all comparisons) (see table). Conclusion: Catumaxomab demonstrated a significant clinical benefit in patients with malignant ascites independent of the primary tumor or other prognostic factors. Therefore, catumaxomab could be considered as a treatment option for patients with a poor prognosis. [Table: see text] [Table: see text]


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ping Cai ◽  
Wenzhi Cai ◽  
Xiaoyu Xu ◽  
xiaofei Yang ◽  
yemin Wang ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: The prognosis of cytogenetic normal acute myeloid leukemia (CN-AML) varies. Finding new biomarkers affecting the prognosis of these patients may bring a new strategy for precise classification and treatment. CD52 play a significant role in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). However, the potential role of CD52 in CN-AML remains largely elusive. Methods: We analyzed the prognostic role of different expression levels of CD52 in 58 CN-AML from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) dataset and validate these results with 345 CN-AML patients from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) dataset. Results: CN-AML patients with high CD52 mRNA expression have a poorer prognosis compared to low CD52 expression ( event-free survival [EFS], P =0.056; overall survival [OS], P=0.043; log-rank test) and the results was verified by GSE12417 (OS, P=0.0197; log-rank test) and GSE71014 (OS, P=0.0197; log-rank test). Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) may improve prognosis of patients with CD52 high . Multivariate cox regression analysis show that the expression level of CD52 (HR=1.503; 95%CI:1.158-1.949 ; P=0.002) was a prognostic factor independent of age (HR=3.045; 95%CI:1.524-6.086; P=0.002) and FLT3 mutation status (HR=2.219; 95%CI:1.123-4.382; P=0.022). CD52 gene expression show a predictive effect on EFS (1-year survival- area under the curve [AUC]:0.685, 2-year survival-AUC:0.752) and OS (1-year survival-AUC: 0.717, 2-year survival-AUC:0.770). Besides, we also found that there is a significant negative correlation between CD52 mRNA expression and DNA methylation . CD52 DNA demethylation may responsible for the high level of CD52 mRNA. Functional enrichment analysis of differentially expressed genes in CD52 high and CD52 low suggests that leukemia cell adhesion-related pathways may be associated with poor prognosis in CD52 high patients . Conclusions: CD52 gene mRNA overexpression is an independent adverse prognostic factor for CN-AML, which could be reversed by HSCT. CD52 DNA demethylation may responsible for the high level of CD52 mRNA. The poor prognosis of patients with CD52 high may involves in leukemia cell adhesion-related pathways. Whether CD52 monoclonal antibodies play a role in high risk patients need further research.


Blood ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 104 (11) ◽  
pp. 2742-2742 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andre Delannoy ◽  
Véronique Lhéritier ◽  
Xavier Thomas ◽  
Sylvie Castaigne ◽  
Hassan Farhat ◽  
...  

Abstract Ph+ ALL accounts for approximately one third of ALL cases in patients aged 55 years or older. The median survival of older Ph+ ALL patients is one year, with practically no long-term survivor (Blood, 98, Supp1 p319a, 2001). Imatinib has demonstrated remarkable, although transient, activity in relapsed and refractory Ph+ ALL, which prompted the GRAALL to implement a treatment protocol associating imatinib and chemotherapy in previously untreated elderly patients: ALL patients aged 55 years or older are treated with steroids during one week and Ph+ve cases are then offered a specific therapy including an induction treatment with steroids, cyclophosphamide, daunorubicin and vincristine, followed, irrespective of response to induction chemotherapy, by imatinib, 600 mg daily, combined with intermittent steroids during 2 months. Patients in complete response are then given 10 blocks of alternating chemotherapy, including 2 additional two-month blocks of imatinib, for a total treatment duration of 2 years. Therapy of occult central nervous system leukemia includes 5 intrathecal injections of methotrexate and cranial irradiation. The study is intended to include 30 patients and its main objective is to improve overall one-year survival to 70%. Results are compared with those obtained in 21 Ph+ ALL elderly patients treated according to our previous protocol. Since January 2003, 21 patients aged 58 to 78 years (median: 64.7 years) were included in the AFR09 protocol. Their median follow-up is 3 months. 15/19 patients are in complete response after induction chemotherapy vs 6/21 in the historical controls given similar induction regimen but with no steroids before chemotherapy (p=0.002). The projected overall survival is 95% at 9 months vs 62% in the control group (p=0.08, log-rank test). The 9-month projected event-free survival is 83% vs 10% (p&lt;0.0001) and the projected 6-month relapse-free survival is 79% vs 22% (p=0.006, log-rank test). In conclusion, although preliminary, this interim analysis suggests that the use of imatinib in elderly patients with Ph+-ALL is very likely to dramatically improve prognosis. Of note, an unexpected high proportion of patients accrued in this study achieved a CR after induction chemotherapy possibly denoting a beneficial impact of steroids given before starting chemotherapy.


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