Clearing of cells bearing the bcl-2 [t(14;18)] translocation from blood and marrow of patients treated with rituximab alone or in combination with CHOP chemotherapy
Document Type
Article
Department
Haematology and Oncology, East Africa
Abstract
Purpose: Patients who were PCR-positive for B-cell leukemialymphoma 2 (bcl-2) gene rearrangement [t(14,18)] were evaluated for responses to rituximab alone or combined with CHOP.
Methods: Patients had relapsed or refractory low-grade or follicular non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (IWF. A–D) The single-agent trial used 375 mg/m2 weekly × 4, combination therapy included six cycles of CHOP and six 375 mg/m2 infusions of rituximab Bcl-2 analyses of bone marrow (BM) and peripheral blood (PB) samples at base-line and following therapy were performed using a PCR assay.
Results: In the single-agent trial, of 70 patients whose peripheral blood (PB) was bcl-2 positive at baseline, 36 became bcl-2-negative, 13 remained positive, and 21 varied between positive and negative The overall response rates (ORRs) were 72%, 31%, and 57%, respectively Twelve of twenty-two patients with repeat bone marrow (BM) samples were bcl-2- negative three months post-treatment Of 18 patients in the combination trial, 8 were bcl-2 positive in PB and/or BM All of seven patients positive in PB at baseline and six of seven patients positive in BM were negative at the end of therapy, all patients responded to treatment (100% ORR).
Conclusions: Rituximab, alone or combined with CHOP, eradicated bcl-2 positive cells from PB and BM in over half of the patients treated and was associated with a high overall clinical response rate The impact on disease-free and overall survival awaits long-term follow up
Publication (Name of Journal)
Annals of oncology
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008395214584
Recommended Citation
Saleh, M.,
López, G.,
McLaughlin, J.,
White, C.,
Gordon, L.,
Maloney, D.
(2001). Clearing of cells bearing the bcl-2 [t(14;18)] translocation from blood and marrow of patients treated with rituximab alone or in combination with CHOP chemotherapy. Annals of oncology, 12(1), 109-114.
Available at:
https://ecommons.aku.edu/eastafrica_fhs_mc_haematol_oncol/98
Comments
his work was published before the author joined Aga Khan University.