Randomized comparison of gemcitabine, dexamethasone, and cisplatin versus dexamethasone, cytarabine, and cisplatin chemotherapy before autologous stem-cell transplantation for relapsed and refractory aggressive lymphomas: NCIC-CTG LY.12

PURPOSE: For patients with relapsed or refractory aggressive lymphoma, we hypothesized that gemcitabine-based therapy before autologous stem-cell transplantation (ASCT) is as effective as and less toxic than standard treatment. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We randomly assigned 619 patients with relapsed/refractory aggressive lymphoma to treatment with gemcitabine, dexamethasone, and cisplatin (GDP) or to dexamethasone, cytarabine, and cisplatin (DHAP). Patients with B-cell lymphoma also received rituximab. Responding patients proceeded to stem-cell collection and ASCT. Coprimary end points were response rate after two treatment cycles and transplantation rate. The noninferiority margin for the response rate to GDP relative to DHAP was set at 10%. Secondary end points included event-free and overall survival, treatment toxicity, and quality of life. RESULTS: For the intention-to-treat population, the response rate with GDP was 45.2%; with DHAP the response rate was 44.0% (95% CI for difference, -9.0% to 6.7%), meeting protocol-defined criteria for noninferiority of GDP (P = .005). Similar results were obtained in a per-protocol analysis. The transplantation rates were 52.1% with GDP and 49.3% with DHAP (P = .44). At a median follow-up of 53 months, no differences were detected in event-free survival (HR, 0.99; stratified log-rank P = .95) or overall survival (HR, 1.03; P = .78) between GDP and DHAP. Treatment with GDP was associated with less toxicity (P < .001) and need for hospitalization (P < .001), and preserved quality of life (P = .04). CONCLUSION: For patients with relapsed or refractory aggressive lymphoma, in comparison with DHAP, treatment with GDP is associated with a noninferior response rate, similar transplantation rate, event-free survival, and overall survival, less toxicity and hospitalization, and superior quality of life

Rare recurring balanced chromosome abnormalities in therapy-related myelodysplastic syndromes and acute leukemia: Report from an international workshop

Seventy-seven patients were identified with Rare recurring (excluding 11q23, 21q22, inv(16), and t(15; 17)) chromosome abnormalities among 511 patients with treatment-related myelodysplastic syndromes and acute leukemia accepted from centers in the United States, Europe, and Japan. The abnormality subsets included 3q21q26 (17 patients), 11p15 (17 patients), t(9;22)(q34;q 11) (10 patients), 12p13 (9 patients), t(8; I 6)(p11;p13) (9 patients), and an "other" subset, which included t(6;9)(p23;q34) (3 patients), t(10;11)(p13;q13similar toq21) (3 patients), t(1;17)(p36;q21) (2 patients), t(8; 14)(q24;q32) (2 patients), t(11;19)(q13;q13) (2 patients), t(1;3)(p36;q21) (2 patients), and t(3;5)(q21;q31) (1 patient). Increased karyotypic complexity with additional balanced and unbalanced rearrangements was observed in 70% of cases. Among 54 cases with secondary abnormalities, chromosome 5 and/or 7 abnormalities were observed in 59%. The most frequent primary diseases were breast cancer (24 cases), Hodgkin disease (14 cases), non-Hodgkin lymphoma (10 cases), and De novo ALL (5 cases). Thirty-seven patients received alkylating agents plus topoisomerase 11 inhibitors with or without radiation therapy, The presenting diagnosis was t-AML in 47 cases, t-MDS in 23 cases (10 progressed to t-AML), and t-ALL in seven cases, five of whom had a t(9;22). The median latency time from initiation of original therapy to therapy-related disease diagnosis was quite long (69 months), and the overall median survival from the date of therapy-related disease diagnosis was very short (7 months). The 1-year survival rate was 34 +/- 7%, with no significant differences among subsets. Comparison with previously reported cases showed increased karyotypic complexity and adult presentation of pediatric-associated chromosome abnormalities. (C) 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc

Postoperative Recurrences in Patients Operated for Pheochromocytomas and Paragangliomas: New Data Supporting Lifelong Surveillance

At least 10% of pheochromocytomas (PHEOs) and paragangliomas (PGLs) (PPGLs) may recur after the initial surgery. Guidelines recommend annual screening for recurrence in non-metastatic tumors for at least 10 years after the initial surgical resection and lifelong screening in high-risk patients. However, recent data suggest that a shorter follow-up might be appropriate. We performed a retrospective analysis on patients with PPGLs who had local and/or metastatic recurrences between 1995 and 2020 in our center. Data were available for 39 cases of recurrence (69.2% female) including 20 PHEOs (51.3%) and 19 PGLs (48.7%) (13 head and neck (HNPGL) and 6 thoracoabdominal (TAPGL)). The overall average delay of recurrence was 116.6 months (14–584 months) or 9.7 years and the median was 71 months or 5.9 years. One-third of the cohort had a recurrence more than 10 years after the initial surgery (10–48.7 years). The average tumor size at initial diagnosis was 8.2 cm for PHEOs, 2.7 cm for HNPGLs, and 9.6 cm for TAPGLs. Interestingly, 17.6% of PHEOs were under 5 cm at the initial diagnosis. Metastatic recurrence was identified in 75% of PHEOs, 15.4% of HNPGLs, and 66.7% of TAPGLs. Finally, 12/23 (52.2%) patients with recurrence who underwent genetic testing carried a germline mutation. Overall, the safest option remains a lifelong follow-up