With 10+ years follow-up in the Leukaemia Research Fund (LRF) CLL4 trial, we report the effect of salvage therapy, and the clinical/biological features of the 10-year survivors treated for chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL). Overall survival (OS) was similar in the three randomized arms. With fludarabine-plus-cyclophosphamide (FC), progression-free survival (PFS) was significantly longer (P < ...

A drug-resistant derivative of a Chinese hamster ovary cell line has been generated by chronic exposure to progressively higher concentra tions of chlorambucil. The cells exhibit greater than 20-fold resistance to the cytotoxic effects of chlorambucil and comparable levels of crossresistance to mechlorethamine and melphalan. These drugs all belong to a class of bifunctional alkylating agents wh...

T HE COLD AGGLUTININ SYNDROME (C.A.S.) is characterized by high-titre cold agglutinins, a hemolytic anemia, Raynaud phenomena in the cold, various degrees of hemoglobinuria, and sometimes gangrene. Because of the hemolysis, the syndrome is most often classified as an autoimmune hemolytic anemia. However, treatment with ACTH, corticosteroids or splenectomy, most often used in this condition, has...

Elderly Hodgkin lymphoma (HL), commonly defined as occuring in patients over 60 to 65 years of age, is an uncommon disease. In population-based studies, the proportion of HL patients over age 60 years has rangedfrom 15% to 30%. However, the proportion of patients over age 60 years in clinical trials has been considerably lower, typically constituting < 5% to 10% of participants. Elderly HL pati...

A 49 year-old Indian housewife was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease in 1995. She was given combination chemotherapy comprising Chlorambucil, Vincristine, Procarbazine and Prednisolone. Unfortunately she defaulted after two courses of chemotherapy. One year later, she developed progressive right knee swelling and pain, associated with loss of appetite, loss of weight, intermittent fever, night s...

Obinutuzumab (GA101) is a humanized, monoclonal type II CD20 antibody modified by glycoengineering. The glycoengineered Fc portion enhances the binding affinity to the FcγRIII receptor on immune effector cells, resulting in increased antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity and phagocytosis. In addition, the type II antibody binding characteristics of obinutuzumab to CD20 lead to an efficient i...

Fludarabine plus cyclophosphamide (FC) is the chemotherapy backbone of modern chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) treatment. CYP2B6 is a polymorphic cytochrome P450 isoform that converts cyclophosphamide to its active form. This study investigated the possible impact of genetic variation in CYP2B6 on response to FC chemotherapy in CLL. Available DNA samples from the LRF CLL4 trial, which compare...

On September 19, 2007, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted regular approval and expanded labeling for alemtuzumab (Campath); Genzyme Corporation, Cambridge, MA) as single-agent treatment for B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL). Alemtuzumab was initially approved in 2001 under accelerated approval regulations. Conversion to regular approval was based on a single study submitted...

Clobazam (CLB), a 1,5-benzodiazepine (BZD), was FDA-approved in October 2011 for the adjunctive treatment of seizures associated with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS) in patients 2 years and older. BZDs exert various CNS effects through allosteric modulation of GABAA receptors. The structurally distinct, 1,4-BZD clonazepam (CLN) is also approved to treat LGS. The precise mechanisms of action and c...

Extensive evidence suggests that the malignant cells of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients are in close contact with activated T lymphocytes, which secrete a range of cytoprotective cytokines including interleukin-4 (IL-4). IL-4 induced the rapid phosphorylation and activation of the signal transducer and activator of transcription 6 transcription factor in CLL cells in vitro. Longer i...