Pharmacokinetic Analysis of Subcutaneous Alemtuzumab as Consolidation Therapy To Achieve MRD-Negative Responses.

Blood ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 106 (11) ◽  
pp. 2962-2962
Author(s):  
Mario Regazzi ◽  
Michela Montagna ◽  
Antonia Avanzini ◽  
Barbara Scarpati ◽  
Anna Colosimo ◽  
...  

Abstract Persistence of minimal residual disease (MRD) after therapy has been shown to be a powerful prognostic factor for relapse among patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Treatment with the anti-CD52 monoclonal antibody alemtuzumab (Campath®), either as a single agent or in combination with fludarabine, has been shown to induce MRD-negative responses, even among patients who are not responsive to traditional therapeutic interventions. Dramatically improved responses and MRD negativity have also been achieved using alemtuzumab as consolidation therapy, to purge MRD after initial therapy with a fludarabine-based regimen. The pharmacokinetics (PK) of alemtuzumab administered subcutaneously to achieve MRD negativity after induction therapy with fludarabine are reported here. Of 41 patients (median age, 54 years) who received consolidation therapy with alemtuzumab, all 16 patients participating in the PK analysis were MRD-positive after receiving induction therapy as measured by PCR consensus primer. At least 8 weeks following the completion of induction therapy, dose escalated alemtuzumab 10 mg was administered for 6 weeks, 3 times a week. Plasma samples were collected from 16 patients on Days 1, 3, 5, 15, 17, 22 and 31, and ELISA was used to assess the PK of alemtuzumab. On Day 15, blood samples were drawn at 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 and 12 hours after alemtuzumab administration. Alemtuzumab plasma concentrations gradually increased during the first 2 weeks, and reached concentrations 25.5-fold higher on Week 3. The median pre-dose concentrations (Cpre-dose) were: 0.01 μg/mL (range, 0–0.07 μg/mL) on Day 3, 0.58 μg/mL (range, 0–1.2 μg/mL) on Day 15, 0.51 μg/mL (range, 0–2.61 μg/mL) on Day 17, and 1.09 μg/mL (range, 0.19–3.08 μg/mL) on Day 31. The median Cmax plasma concentration was 1.05 μg/mL (range, 0.097–1.75 μg/mL) and the median Cpre-dose was 0.58 μg/mL (range, 0–1.2 μg/mL). An analysis was performed to correlate quantitative response as represented by polyclonal complete remission and AUC0–12 values. Preliminary data indicate that the systemic exposure associated with effective therapy corresponds with an AUC0–12 value higher than 5 μg•h/mL on Day 15 of the administration schedule. Therefore, complete response (CR) rates, expressed as percentage of patients with AUC0–12 values correlating with effective treatment, increased with higher levels of systemic exposure to alemtuzumab.

2006 ◽  
Vol 24 (15) ◽  
pp. 2337-2342 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Montillo ◽  
Alessandra Tedeschi ◽  
Sara Miqueleiz ◽  
Silvio Veronese ◽  
Roberto Cairoli ◽  
...  

Purpose Treatment with alemtuzumab has resulted in negative responses for minimal residual disease (MRD) in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). In a prior analysis we demonstrated that it is possible to achieved MRD negativity, as assessed by polyclonality of immunoglobulin heavy chain after consolidation with alemtuzumab. This phase II study evaluated 34 patients with CLL who received alemtuzumab consolidation in an effort to improve the quality of their response to fludarabine-based induction. Subsequent peripheral blood stem-cell (PBSC) collection and transplantation, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics also were assessed. Patients and Methods Thirty-four patients younger than 65 years who had a clinical response to fludarabine-based induction therapy received alemtuzumab 10 mg subcutaneously three times per week for 6 weeks. PBSCs were collected after mobilization with cytarabine and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor. Blood samples for pharmacokinetics study were taken between days 1 and 31. Results The complete response rate improved from 35% after fludarabine induction to 79.4% after alemtuzumab consolidation, including 19 patients (56%) who achieved MRD negativity. The most common adverse events were injection-site reactions and fever. Cytomegalovirus reactivation occurred in 18 patients, all of whom were successfully treated with oral ganciclovir. PBSC collection was successful in 24 (92%) of 26 patients, and 18 patients underwent autologous PBSC transplantation. Alemtuzumab plasma concentrations increased gradually during the first 2 weeks and accumulated more rapidly thereafter. Conclusion Subcutaneously administered alemtuzumab was effective, safe, and well tolerated as consolidation therapy in patients with CLL who responded to fludarabine induction therapy. Subsequent PBSCT was feasible thereafter.


2005 ◽  
Vol 23 (30) ◽  
pp. 7697-7702 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan M. O'Brien ◽  
Charles C. Cunningham ◽  
Anatoliy K. Golenkov ◽  
Anna G. Turkina ◽  
Steven C. Novick ◽  
...  

Purpose To determine the maximum-tolerated dose (MTD), efficacy, safety, and pharmacokinetics of oblimersen sodium in patients with advanced chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Patients and Methods Eligible patients had relapsed or refractory CLL after treatment with fludarabine. Oblimersen was administered at doses ranging from 3 to 7 mg/kg/d as a 5-day continuous intravenous infusion in cycle 1 and as a 7-day continuous intravenous infusion in subsequent cycles every 3 weeks in stable or responding patients. Results Forty patients were enrolled and treated (14 patients in phase I and 26 patients in phase II). Dose-limiting reactions in phase I included hypotension and fever, and the MTD for phase II dosing was established at 3 mg/kg/d. Two (8%) of 26 assessable patients achieved a partial response. Other evidence of antitumor activity included ≥ 50% reduction in splenomegaly (seven of 17 patients; 41%), complete disappearance of hepatomegaly (two of seven patients; 29%), ≥ 50% reduction of lymphadenopathy (seven of 22 patients; 32%), and ≥ 50% reduction in circulating lymphocyte counts (11 of 22 patients; 50%). Adverse events included transient hypotension, fever, fatigue, night sweats, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, hypokalemia, and cough. Plasma concentrations of oblimersen (parent drug) and its major metabolites were variable. Renal clearance represented only a small portion of total parent drug clearance. Conclusion Dosing with oblimersen sodium in patients with CLL is limited by development of a cytokine release syndrome that is characterized by fever, hypotension, and back pain. Oblimersen sodium has modest single-agent activity in heavily pretreated patients with advanced CLL, and further evaluation of its activity in combination with cytotoxic drugs is warranted.


1992 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 311-315 ◽  
Author(s):  
D K Baker ◽  
M V Relling ◽  
C H Pui ◽  
M L Christensen ◽  
W E Evans ◽  
...  

PURPOSE A possible pharmacokinetic interaction between teniposide and anticonvulsant medications was evaluated in pediatric patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS The systemic clearance of teniposide was determined in six pediatric patients with acute lymphocytic leukemia receiving concomitant therapy with anticonvulsants. Clearance was then compared with a control group of patients treated with the same protocol therapy and matched for age at diagnosis, sex, and race but not receiving anticonvulsants or other agents known to induce hepatic metabolism or alter protein binding of drugs. Eight blood samples were obtained during and after 4-hour infusions of teniposide, and plasma concentrations were measured by a specific high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) assay. A two-compartment model was fitted to each subject's data. RESULTS The mean systemic clearance (range) for the six anticonvulsant-treated patients studied during 22 courses of therapy was 32 mL/min/m2 (range, 21 to 54 mL/min/m2), significantly higher (P less than .001) than the mean value of 13 mL/min/m2 (range, 7 to 17 mL/min/m2) for the control patients studied during 26 courses of therapy. Clearance estimates for control patients were similar to previously published values for pediatric patients. CONCLUSION These data indicate that the systemic clearance of teniposide is consistently increased two- to three-fold by concomitant phenobarbital or phenytoin therapy. The consequent substantial reduction in systemic exposure may reduce teniposide's efficacy.


2012 ◽  
Vol 153 (41) ◽  
pp. 1622-1628
Author(s):  
Márk Plander ◽  
Judit Skrapits ◽  
Tünde Bozsó ◽  
Tamás Szendrei ◽  
János László Iványi

Introduction: Minimal residual disease is associated with longer overall survival in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Aim: The aim of the authors was to determine the clinical significance of remission and minimal residual disease on the survival of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Methods: Data from 42 first-line treated patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia were analyzed. Minimal residual disease was determined by flow cytometry. Results: Overall response and complete remission was achieved in 91%, 86%, 100% and 87%, 0%, 60% of patients with fludarabine-based combinations, single-agent fludarabine and cyclophosphamide + vincristin + prednisolone regimen, respectively. Minimal residual disease eradication was feasible only with fludarabine-based combinations in 60% of these cases. The ratio of minimal residual disease was 0.5% on average. During a median follow-up period lasting 30 months, the overall survival of patients with fludarabine-resistant disease proved to be significantly shorter (p = 0.04), while complete remission without minimal residual disease was associated with significantly longer progression free survival (p = 0.02). Conclusion: Only fludarabine-based combinations were able to eradicate minimal residual disease in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Complete remission without minimal residual disease may predict longer progression free survival in these patients. Orv. Hetil., 2012, 153, 1622–1628.


Blood ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 106 (11) ◽  
pp. 2117-2117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan O’Brien ◽  
William G. Wierda ◽  
Stefan Faderl ◽  
Alessandra Ferrajoli ◽  
Carlos E. Bueso-Ramos ◽  
...  

Abstract The combination regimen of Fludarabine, Cyclophosphamide, and Rituximab (FCR) has produced high overall response (OR) rates and complete remission (CR) rates in patients receiving this as initial treatment for CLL. Earlier studies have shown that dose-dense or dose-intensified regimens of single-agent Rituximab produced higher response rates in patients with CLL. The current regimen, FCR-3, was based on the hypothesis that increasing the amount of Rituximab in the combination might improve response rates and remission duration. Doses of chemotherapy were Fludarabine 25 mg/m2/Dx3, and Cyclophosphamide 250 mg/m2/Dx3 given monthly. Rituximab was given at 375 mg/m2 as the first dose and 500 mg/m2 for all subsequent doses. On each day of the chemotherapy a dose of Rituximab was given so 3 doses were given monthly. With the previous FCR regimen 45% of patients achieved a CR or nPR and had <5% CD19+ 5 positive cells in the marrow at the completion of 3 cycles of therapy (rapid response, RR). The median time to progression (TTP) in that group has not been reached; it was 3 years in patients who did not achieve that endpoint (p<.001). The current protocol aimed to increase that response rate from 45% to 60%. Sixty-five patients were treated. Eighty percent were men. The median age was 59 years (27–82). Rai Stage 3–4 disease was present in 25% of patients. Median WBC count was 92.4 x 103/ul (7.9–363). Median B2-microglobulin was 3.8 (1.6–10.1). Unfavorable FISH abnormalities were present in 35% of 52 evaluable patients. Somatic hypermutation status was available for 44 patients; 61% were unmutated. ZAP-70 expression analysis performed by immunostaining or flow cytometry was positive in 62% of 47 evaluable patients. Results of FCR-3 in comparison to FCR are shown in the table. 3 Cycles 6 Cycles No. RR(%) OR CR Flow<5% FCR 300 45 95 72 82 FCR-3 65 45 94 65 74 PCR negativity using consensus primer PCR was achieved in 49% of patients at the end of therapy. Median number of days between courses ranges from 29–35 per course (overall range 27–95). Eighty-five percent of patients completed 6 cycles. No patient has progressed with a median follow-up of 10 months. With limited follow-up the addition of 3 doses of Rituximab to FC chemotherapy does not appear to provide greater benefit than one dose.


Blood ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 108 (11) ◽  
pp. 4991-4991
Author(s):  
T. Elter ◽  
J. Kilp ◽  
T. Piironen ◽  
P. Borchmann ◽  
H. Schulz ◽  
...  

Abstract Combination chemoimmunotherapy regimens have shown substantial efficacy in the treatment of lymphoproliferative disorders, particularly in comparison to the efficacy of single-agent therapies. Fludarabine has become an established treatment regimen in CLL, and although overall response rates (ORR) in previously untreated patients range between 60% to 80%, patients who are refractory to fludarabine have poor outcomes. Alemtuzumab, the anti-CD52 monoclonal antibody, is the most effective single-agent therapy in CLL, and is capable of inducing minimal residual disease (MRD)-negative responses even among patients with fludarabine-refractory disease. Our previous clinical experience with the combination of alemtuzumab and fludarabine (FluCam) resulted in 83% ORR in 36 patients with relapsed/refractory CLL, with 30% achieving a complete response (CR; Elter et al J Clin Oncol2005;23:7024–7031). In addition, among 12 patients with fludarabine-refractory disease, 8 achieved responses (4 CRs), and median time-to-progression (TTP) for all patients was 13 months. In order to optimize the dose and schedule of the FluCam combination, we performed pharmacokinetic (PK) analysis of the previously reported 6-cycle regimen. PK data were collected for a 14-patient cohort that participated in the phase 2 FluCam trial. Median patient age was 60 years (range, 49–73), 9 patients had Binet C disease (5 were Binet B), and patients received a mean 2.5 prior therapies. Alemtuzumab 30 mg (after initial dose escalation) and fludarabine 30 mg/m2 were administered on days 1–3 of a 28-day cycle for up to 6 cycles. PK parameters were measured from samples collected before each subsequent cycle, and at days 1, 4, 7, 14, 21, 28, and 42, for a total of 158 patient samples, of which 120 were tested. Plasma concentration of alemtuzumab increased steadily from day 1 to day 4 of therapy to a median Cmax 1.55 mg/mL, but decreased to a median 0.145 mg/mL by 7 days after initiation of treatment. By day 21 of therapy, alemtuzumab plasma concentration decreased to undetectable levels. Because efficacy of alemtuzumab has been shown to correlate with serum levels of this antibody, significant improvement in progression free survival (PFS) may require a elevated plasma levels of alemtuzumab for the duration of the treatment cycle. Therefore, the significant responses seen in this trial can be attributed to documented synergistic activity between alemtuzumab and fludarabine, which has been demonstrated both in vitro and in vivo. Despite low CD4 counts through the duration of therapy, favorable safety results seen in the trial could be attributed to opportunity for hematologic recovery between treatment cycles. Detailed PK analysis is currently being completed and will be presented at the conference. Conclusions: Treatment with the FluCam immunotherapy combination yielded positive results among patients with fludarabine resistant/refractory CLL, a difficult-to-treat population. As shown previously, response rates correlate with higher alemtuzumab plasma concentrations. Therefore, longer PFS durations may require longer, more sustained alemtuzumab plasma levels, which may be achieved with either consolidation or maintenance.


Blood ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 108 (11) ◽  
pp. 3576-3576 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamad A. Hussein ◽  
James R. Berenson ◽  
Ruben Niesvizky ◽  
Nikhil C. Munshi ◽  
Jeffrey Matous ◽  
...  

Abstract SGN-40 is a humanized anti-CD40 monoclonal antibody that has demonstrated potent in vitro and in vivo efficacy against cell lines expressing CD40, a member of the tumor necrosis factor receptor family. CD40 is widely expressed on tumors of B-cell origin, including myeloma, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease, and chronic lymphocytic leukemia. SGN-40 has been evaluated in a phase I, multi-dose, single-agent, dose escalation study for patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. This single-arm trial was designed to evaluate safety, pharmacokinetics, immunogenicity, and antitumor activity. Thirty-two patients were treated at five clinical sites. Patients had been heavily pretreated with a median of four prior regimens and 4.8 years since diagnosis. Initially, patients were treated with four weekly infusions at a cohort-specific dose. This schedule was well-tolerated at 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 mg/kg/wk; however, two of three patients experienced dose-limiting toxicities following the first dose at 4 mg/kg. One patient had aseptic meningitis (grade 3) and another had headache (grade 3) and aseptic meningitis (grade 4); both patients fully recovered after several days of symptom management. Subsequently, the protocol was amended to allow intra-patient dose-loading, which resulted in successful dose escalation to 8 mg/kg, the highest dose tested. There was neither recurrence of grade 3 neurotoxicity nor evidence of cumulative toxicity. Drug-related adverse events were mostly grade 1 or 2 and included: fatigue (38%), headache (34%), nausea (16%), conjunctivitis (13%), diarrhea (13%), vomiting (13%), anemia (9%), anorexia (9%), chills (9%), and pyrexia (9%). Transient grade 3 elevation of hepatic transaminases (1) and grade 3 neutropenia (1) were observed. Overall, toxicity did not appear to increase in incidence or severity at higher doses. Patients were evaluated at baseline and end of treatment for development of anti-SGN-40 antibodies. Of 30 patients for whom appropriate samples were available for testing, only one low-titer immune response (16 ng/mL) was detected, suggesting that immunogenicity does not appear to be a significant problem in this patient population. Pharmacokinetic analysis demonstrates dose-proportional changes in Cmax and AUC with a relatively short terminal half-life, similar to that seen in non-human primates. Final analysis of SGN-40 serum levels is ongoing. Although several patients demonstrated decreased M-protein and improvement in subjective symptoms, no patients met criteria for objective response. Five patients (16%) had stable disease at the time of restaging. In summary, dose-dependent toxicity was established only in relation to the first dose of SGN-40, which may be due to partial agonistic signal transduction. Using a dose-loading schedule, SGN-40 was administered up to 8 mg/kg without reaching a maximum tolerated dose. Some patients with advanced myeloma appeared to derive clinical benefit from therapy, and further development of this antibody, either as monotherapy or in combination with other anti-myeloma therapies, is indicated.


Blood ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 110 (11) ◽  
pp. 3133-3133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Montillo ◽  
Sara Miqueleiz ◽  
Alessandra Tedeschi ◽  
Francesca Ricci ◽  
Eleonora Vismara ◽  
...  

Abstract Fludarabine (F) in combination with cyclophosphamide (C) showed a relevant advantage over single-agent F in pts with relapsed CLL. Although minimal residual disease (MRD) remains detectable in many pts achieving CR, the combination of F and C seems to reduce MRD more efficiently. Still, pts in CR eventually relapse and require treatment, demonstrating the need for improved treatments able to further reduce or eliminate MRD and induce “better quality” and thus more durable responses. Alemtuzumab (CAM), anti-CD52 monoclonal antibody, acts synergistically with F in vitro and appears to have synergistic activity in vivo. Additionally, CAM is highly effective at clearing disease from bone marrow, the usual site of residual disease following purine analogue-based treatment. Therefore, we designed a phase II study to determine feasibility and efficacy, overall response rate (ORR)-duration of response-ability at clearing MRD, of a 4-weekly combination regimen consisting of F, C, and CAM (FCC). The study population is represented by pts with B-CLL with relapsed or refractory disease after at least one line of treatment. Subcutaneous route of administration of CAM has been adopted in this trial. MRD was measured by 4-color flow cytometry in the bone marrow. The FCC regimen consisted of F 40 mg/m2/d os (d 1–3), C 250 mg/m2/d os (d 1–3) and CAM 10 mg sc (d 1–3). This combination was repeated on d 29 for up to 6 cycles. The dose of CAM was increased after the first cohort of 10 treated pts from 10 mg to 20 mg sc. Currently, 25 pts have been enrolled in this trial. Median age was 57 years (range 42–79), 15/25 (60%) were male, 23/25 (92%) were in Binet stage B or C, median number of prior treatment regimens was 2 (range 1–4). In six (24%) pts 17p deletion was detected. IgVH unmutated was observed in 17 (68%) pts. At the moment of writing 19 pts are eligible for evaluation of toxicity and response. The ORR was 79%, with 7 (37%) pts achieving CR, 7 (37%) pts a PR, 1 (5%) pt a PRn. Three pts had SD, while 1 showed progression of the disease. MRD negativity was achieved in the bone marrow of 4/15 (27%) pts. Grade III-IV neutropenia episodes were observed in 43% of the administered courses while grade III-IV thrombocytopenia episodes were detected only in 8% of cycles. Four major infections were recorded: two sustained by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (1 cutis, 1 lung), one by Nocardia (lung) and one by E. coli (sepsis). The patient with pneumonia due to M. tuberculosis died because of respiratory failure. CMV reactivation occurred in 6 pts: no CMV disease was recorded. After a median follow up of 10 m (range 1–22) 73% of responding pts did not progressed. In conclusion, results from the interim analysis of this new, 4-weekly dosing FCC regimen suggest that combination therapy with F, C and CAM is feasible, safe, and effective in treating pts with relapsed and refractory CLL, even in those patients with inherent poor prognostic factors and who had received.


Blood ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 112 (11) ◽  
pp. 4211-4211
Author(s):  
Mona Darwish ◽  
Peter Brown ◽  
Debra M Bensen-Kennedy ◽  
Lauren Young

Abstract The alkylating agent bendamustine (100 mg/m2 iv) was recently shown to be superior to chlorambucil (0.8 mg/kg po) in the treatment of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, in respect to both overall response rate and progression-free survival (Knauf et al 2007). In order to better understand the greater activity exhibited by bendamustine, the ex-vivo potencies of these two drugs against primary CLL cells were compared with the peak plasma concentrations obtained in patients. Published studies indicate that ex-vivo bendamustine treatment results in a mean LD50 (dose causing 50% cell death) of 7.4 and 4.3 μg/ml in CLL cells from chemo-naive and previously-treated patients respectively (Schwanen et al 2002). This is comparable to the Cmax attained in patients: a 120 mg/m2 dose of bendamustine infused over 60 min resulted in a mean Cmax of 5.6 μg/ml in a study of lymphoma patients. In contrast, the corresponding LD50 values for chlorambucil were reported to be 12.3 and 26.2 μg/ml for chemo-naive and previously-treated CLL patients (Silber et al 1994). These concentrations are considerably higher than the plasma concentrations attained with oral administration of chlorambucil: an oral dose of 60 mg (~0.8 mg/kg) resulted in a mean Cmax of 2.2 μg/ml of parent compound and 1.1 μg/ml of the active phenylacetic acid metabolite. A higher dose of 70 mg did not result in higher plasma exposure (Hartvig et al 1988). The ability to achieve adequate therapeutic concentrations of bendamustine in CLL patients may explain, in part, the greater activity observed with this novel chemotherapy as compared to chlorambucil.


Blood ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 114 (22) ◽  
pp. 3094-3094
Author(s):  
Anjali Advani ◽  
Holly Gundacker ◽  
Olga Sala-Torra ◽  
Jerald Radich ◽  
Raymond Lai ◽  
...  

Abstract Abstract 3094 Poster Board III-31 Clofarabine (Clo) has demonstrated single agent activity in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and acute myeloid leukemia. Therefore, efforts have been undertaken to combine Clo with other antileukemic agents. Clo and cytarabine (Cy) target two different sites in DNA, have synergistic activity in vivo, and have non-overlapping toxicities, making this combination potentially promising for the treatment of relapsed/ refractory ALL. The maximum tolerated dose of this combination has been previously determined. The goals of this study were to: (1) evaluate the complete remission rate with and without complete count recovery (CR and CRi) of patients with relapsed/ refractory ALL treated with Clo/Cy; (2) to assess expression of connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) and nucleoside transporters in patients. Methods Patients were treated at SWOG institutions from February 2007 through July 2008. Clo was supplied by Genzyme. This protocol was reviewed and approved through each institution's review board. Eligibility criteria included: age ≥ 16 years, relapsed or refractory ALL (excluding Burkitts or mixed lineage leukemia), Zubrod performance status 0-2. CTGF expression was analyzed by triplicate RT-PCR on pre-treatment samples. Expression of the nucleoside transporters (hENT1, hCNT3, dCK) was analyzed by immunohistochemistry. All patients received treatment with Clo 40 mg/m2/d and Cy 1 g/m2/d on Days 1-5. Response was assessed between Days 28-35. Patients with a partial remission (a 50% decrease in marrow blast percentage) could receive re-induction therapy. CR was defined as < 5% marrow blasts, neutrophils > 1,000/μL, platelets ≥ 100,000/μL, and no evidence of extramedullary disease. CRi was defined the same as CR but the platelet count could be < 100,000/μL. Patients with a CR could receive one cycle of consolidation therapy. Patients were to be accrued in 2 stages. In the first stage, 20 patients were to be registered. If at least 2 CR/ CRis were observed, an additional 15 patients were to be accrued (87% power to conclude that an agent with a response rate of 30% warrants further study). Results The study met criteria to proceed to the second stage. Thirty-seven patients were enrolled. One patient is excluded from the analysis because treatment was not started due to high liver function tests after registration. Of the 36 evaluable patients, the median age was 41 years (range: 20-68), median WBC 5200/μL (range 900-93,700), and 23 patients (64%) were male. The median time from initial diagnosis to registration was 14 months (range 1-52 months). Nineteen patients (53%) were in first relapse, 7 (19%) in subsequent relapse, 1 (3%) with an unknown number of relapses, and 9 (25%) refractory. Two patients had received prior allogeneic BMT. Thirty-two patients have died, with 10 deaths occurring during protocol treatment and 7 of these deaths attributable to treatment [infection (3), pleural effusion (1) DIC (1), hypotension/ renal failure/ cardiac arrhythmia (1), multiorgan failure (1)]. Three patients received re-induction, and 1 patient received consolidation therapy. The CR/CRi rate was 17% (95% CI 6-33%), and median overall survival 3 months. At least 8 patients proceeded to BMT after completing protocol therapy. The number of patients accrued to this study was relatively small and the CR rate was low. Therefore, it is unlikely that any statistical differences in CR rate would be found, with respect to expression of various biologic correlates. However, there was a trend for patients with higher expression of CTGF having an inferior OS (p=0.13). In addition, although 70% of patients had high levels of hENT1 expression, only 33% and 44% of patients respectively had high levels of hCNT3 and dCK, which could serve as a mechanism of resistance to nucleoside analog therapy. Conclusion The CR/CRi rate in this study was modest. This regimen does not exhibit sufficient activity to warrant further testing unless it was significantly altered. However, this was a heavily pre-treated, poor risk population of patients. Of interest, low expression of nucleoside transporters and high expression of CTGF may predict response and OS. Larger prospective studies will be needed to confirm this. Therapies directly targeting these latter pathways or working independently of these pathways may help improve the prognosis of patients if these results are confirmed. Disclosures Advani: Genzyme: Honoraria, Research Funding. Off Label Use: The combination of clofarabine/ cytarabine is investigational. Radich:Novartis: Research Funding. Lancet:Genzyme: Consultancy. Stuart:Genzyme: Research Funding.


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