[Association of lymphoma and granulomatosis: A case series]. / Association lymphome et granulomatose : à propos d'une série de cas.

PURPOSE: The sarcoidosis-lymphoma syndrome is a recognised entity. However, the presence of granulomas in patients with a haematological disease should not lead too easily to a diagnosis of sarcoidosis. The presence of granulomatous lesions during the follow-up of these patients raises diagnostic and therapeutic issues. METHODS: We included 25 patients followed by the department of haematology in a French hospital (Centre Léon-Bérard). These patients presented with granulomatous lesions. Patients with a history of sarcoidosis were excluded. We report the type of haematological disease, the time of onset of the granulomatous disease compared to that of lymphoma, associated symptoms, aetiology and outcome. Patients were divided into three groups according to the time of onset of the granulomatous lesions. RESULTS: Granulomatous lesions appeared before the haematological disease in 4 cases, was concomitant in 8 cases and appeared later in 13 remaining cases. The two main subtypes of lymphoma encountered were: diffuse large cell lymphoma (36%) and Hodgkin's lymphoma (28%). Granulomatous lesions were related to the progression of the hematological disease in 11 cases, to sarcoidosis in 4 cases, to infection in 3 cases, to drug allergy in one case, to inflammatory bowel disease in one case, to granuloma annulare in one case and was isolated in 4 cases (no identified etiology). In the group where granulomas appeared after the haematological disease, mean SUV was 11 for the haematological disease versus 6.4 for granulomas. CONCLUSION: Granulomatous diseases in lymphomas can be due to various aetiologies: infection, reaction to the haematological disease, or systemic sarcoidosis. It is an important challenge for clinicians, who can miss the diagnosis of lymphoma and or conclude to a treatment failure or a relapse. Computed tomography scan (CT-scan) or (18)F-deoxyglucose-positron emission tomography scan can help establish a diagnosis but do not replace biopsy.

An information retrieval system for computerized patient records in the context of a daily hospital practice: the example of the Léon Bérard Cancer Center (France).

BACKGROUND: A full-text search tool was introduced into the daily practice of Léon Bérard Center (France), a health care facility devoted to treatment of cancer. This tool was integrated into the hospital information system by the IT department having been granted full autonomy to improve the system. OBJECTIVES: To describe the development and various uses of a tool for full-text search of computerized patient records. METHODS: The technology is based on Solr, an open-source search engine. It is a web-based application that processes HTTP requests and returns HTTP responses. A data processing pipeline that retrieves data from different repositories, normalizes, cleans and publishes it to Solr, was integrated in the information system of the Leon Bérard center. The IT department developed also user interfaces to allow users to access the search engine within the computerized medical record of the patient. RESULTS: From January to May 2013, 500 queries were launched per month by an average of 140 different users. Several usages of the tool were described, as follows: medical management of patients, medical research, and improving the traceability of medical care in medical records. The sensitivity of the tool for detecting the medical records of patients diagnosed with both breast cancer and diabetes was 83.0%, and its positive predictive value was 48.7% (gold standard: manual screening by a clinical research assistant). CONCLUSION: The project demonstrates that the introduction of full-text-search tools allowed practitioners to use unstructured medical information for various purposes.

Outcome and prognostic factors in patients with mantle-cell lymphoma relapsing after autologous stem-cell transplantation: a retrospective study of the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT).

BACKGROUND: Autologous stem-cell transplantation (autoSCT) is considered a standard treatment of non-frail patients with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), but little is known about outcome of MCL patients relapsing after autoSCT. We therefore sought to analyse the outcome after autoSCT failure and the efficacy of a rescue stem-cell transplantation (SCT) in this setting. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients with MCL were eligible if they had relapsed after autoSCT performed between 2000 and 2009. A total of 1054 patients could be identified in the EBMT registry. By contacting the transplant centres, a full dataset could be retrieved for 360 patients. RESULTS: Median overall survival (OS) after relapse of the whole study group was 19 months. A long (>12 months) interval between autoSCT and relapse [P < 0.001, hazard ratio (HR) 0.62], primary refractory disease (P < 0.02, HR 1.92), prior high-dose ARA-C treatment (P = 0.04, HR 1.43), and the year of relapse (P = 0.02, HR 0.92) significantly influenced OS from relapse in multivariate analysis. Eighty patients (22%) received a rescue allogeneic SCT (alloSCT). Relapse incidence, non-relapse mortality, and OS 2 years after alloSCT was 33% [confidence interval (95% CI 21% to 45%)], 30% (95% CI 19% to 42%), and 46% (95% CI 33% to 59%), respectively. Remission duration after autoSCT was the only variable significantly affecting the outcome of salvage alloSCT. In contrast, rescue autoSCT was not associated with long-term disease control. However, individual patients survived long term even without salvage transplantation. CONCLUSIONS: MCL recurrence within 1 year after autoSCT has an extremely dismal outcome, while the prognosis of patients with longer remission durations after autoSCT is significantly better. AlloSCT may offer the possibility of durable survival when performed for patients with a remission duration of more than 12 months after first autoSCT, but the favourable effect of a salvage alloSCT in this setting needs further validation.

Cryopreservation, semen use and the likelihood of fatherhood in male Hodgkin lymphoma survivors: an EORTC-GELA Lymphoma Group cohort study.

STUDY QUESTION: How does the successful cryopreservation of semen affect the odds of post-treatment fatherhood among Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) survivors? SUMMARY ANSWER: Among 334 survivors who wanted to have children, the availability of cryopreserved semen doubled the odds of post-treatment fatherhood. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY: Cryopreservation of semen is the easiest, safest and most accessible way to safeguard fertility in male patients facing cancer treatment. Little is known about what proportion of patients achieve successful semen cryopreservation. To our knowledge, neither the factors which influence the occurrence of semen cryopreservation nor the rates of fatherhood after semen has been cryopreserved have been analysed before. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION: This is a cohort study with nested case-control analyses of consecutive Hodgkin survivors treated between 1974 and 2004 in multi-centre randomized controlled trials. A written questionnaire was developed and sent to 1849 male survivors. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS: Nine hundred and two survivors provided analysable answers. The median age at treatment was 31 years. The median follow-up after cryopreservation was 13 years (range 5-36). MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE: Three hundred and sixty-three out of 902 men (40%) cryopreserved semen before the start of potentially gonadotoxic treatment. The likelihood of semen cryopreservation was influenced by age, treatment period, disease stage, treatment modality and education level. Seventy eight of 363 men (21%) used their cryopreserved semen. Men treated between 1994 and 2004 had significantly lower odds of cryopreserved semen use compared with those treated earlier, whereas alkylating or second-line (chemo)therapy significantly increased the odds of use; no other influencing factors were identified. We found an adjusted odds ratio of 2.03 (95% confidence interval 1.11-3.73, P = 0.02) for post-treatment fatherhood if semen cryopreservation was performed. Forty-eight out of 258 men (19%) who had children after HL treatment became a father using cryopreserved semen. LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION: Data came from questionnaires and so this study potentially suffers from response bias. We could not perform an analysis with correction for duration of follow-up or provide an actuarial use rate due to lack of dates of semen utilization. We do not have detailed information on either the techniques used in cryopreserved semen utilization or the number of cycles needed. STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTERESTS: Lance Armstrong Foundation, Dutch Cancer Foundation, René Vogels Stichting, no competing interests.

Deletion of the 1p32 region is a major independent prognostic factor in young patients with myeloma: the IFM experience on 1195 patients.

Deletions of the 1p region appear as a pejorative prognostic factor in multiple myeloma patients (especially 1p22 and 1p32 deletions) but there is a lack of data on the real impact of 1p abnormalities on an important and homogeneous group of patients. To address this issue we studied by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) the incidence and prognostic impact of 1p22 and 1p32 deletions in 1195 patients from the IFM (Institut Francophone du Myélome) cell collection. Chromosome 1p deletions were present in 23.3% of the patients (271): 15.1% (176) for 1p22 and 7.3% (85) for 1p32 regions. In univariate analyses, 1p22 and 1p32 appeared as negative prognostic factors for progression-free survival (PFS): 1p22: 19.8 months vs 33.6 months (P<0.001) and 1p32: 14.4 months vs 33.6 months (P<0.001); and overall survival (OS): 1p22: 44.2 months vs 96.8 months (P=0.002) and 1p32: 26.7 months vs 96.8 months (P<0.001). In multivariate analyses, 1p22 and 1p32 deletions still appear as independent negative prognostic factors for PFS and OS. In conclusion, our data show that 1p22 and 1p32 deletions are major negative prognostic factors for PFS and OS for patients with MM. We thus suggest that 1p32 deletion should be tested for all patients at diagnosis.

Rituximab induction immunotherapy for first-line low-tumor-burden follicular lymphoma: survival analyses with 7-year follow-up.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to report long-term results of rituximab induction monotherapy in patients with low-tumor-burden follicular lymphoma (LTBFL). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Of 49 first-line LTBFL patients who received weekly doses of rituximab (375 mg/m(2)), 46 have been followed with a long-term analysis of clinical and molecular responses. RESULTS: Best clinical response (at any staging within a year following treatment) was 80%, 24 (52%) patients had complete or unconfirmed complete response, 13 (28%) had partial response and 9 (20%) had stable or progressive disease. Of 31 patients having a positive bcl2-JH rearrangement, 15 (48%) became negative following treatment. After 83.9 months of follow-up (95% confidence interval 6.4-92.8 months), the median progression-free survival is 23.5 months and overall survival (OS) is 91.7%. Five patients died (one progression, one myelodysplasia, one diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and two solid tumors). Seven patients (15%) are progression-free including five who are bcl2 informative. No unexpected long-term adverse event has been observed. CONCLUSION: A significant proportion of patients remain progression-free 7 years after a single 4-dose rituximab treatment in first-line LTBFL. The 7-year overall survivalOS is very high in this selected population of patients.

A randomised phase II study of the efficacy, safety and cost-effectiveness of pegfilgrastim and filgrastim after autologous stem cell transplant for lymphoma and myeloma (PALM study).

AIM: To evaluate in a multicentre randomised study the effect on duration of febrile neutropenia (FN), the safety and cost-effectiveness of a single subcutaneous pegfilgrastim injection compared with daily injections of filgrastim after peripheral blood stem cell transplantation in patients receiving high dose chemotherapy for myeloma and lymphoma. METHODS: Patients were randomly assigned to a single dose of pegfilgrastim at day 5 (D5) or daily filgrastim from D5 to the recovery of absolute neutrophil count (ANC) to 0.5 G/L. Duration of FN, of neutrophil and platelet recovery, transfusion and antibiotic requirements were the main end-points of the study. Costs were calculated from D0 until transplant unit discharge. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio was expressed as the cost per day of FN prevented. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis was performed by non-parametric bootstrap methods. RESULTS: Between October 2008 and September 2009, 10 centres enrolled 151 patients: 80 patients with lymphoma and 71 patients with myeloma. The mean duration of FN was 3.07 days (standard deviation (SD) 1.96) in the pegfilgrastin arm and 3.29 (SD 2.54) in the filgrastim one. Mean total costs were 23,256 and 25,448 euros for pegfilgrastim and filgrastim patients, respectively. There was a 62% probability that pegfilgrastim strictly dominates filgrastim. CONCLUDING STATEMENT: Pegfilgrastim after PBSC transplantation in myeloma and lymphoma is safe, effective when compared with filgrastim and could represent a cost-effective alternative in this setting.

[Practice guidelines of the use of bisphosphonates in solid tumours with bone metastases and in multiple myeloma]. / Guide de recommandations d'utilisation des bisphosphonates dans les lésions osseuses malignes des tumeurs solides et du myélome multiple.

Bisphosphonates are indicated for the treatment of bone lesions in patients with solid tumours or multiple myeloma. Bisphosphonates have proven their effectiveness in reducing the number of bone complications (hypercalcemia, pain, disease-related fractures, spinal cord compression) and delaying their occurrence in patients with bone tumours; they have also been shown to reduce the need for bone surgery and palliative or pain-relieving radiotherapy in these patients. International recommendations for the treatment of bone lesions related to malignant solid tumours and multiple myeloma have been established. We have elaborated clinical practice guidelines on the use of bisphosphonates to assist treatment decision-making in bone oncology. The guide contains decision trees and tables with information to guide pre-treatment evaluation and patient follow-up, as well as indications and conditions of use of bisphosphonates. In 2007, the regional cancer network of Rhône-Alpes, ONCORA, formed a working group (GIP ONCORA) to elaborate the guideline. The final version was then discussed and adopted at a plenary session in July 2009, during a collaborative workshop on supportive care recommendations organized by ONCORA and the regional cancer network of Lorraine.

The yield of routine EEG in geriatric patients: A prospective hospital-based study.

STUDY AIM: To study the yield of routine EEG in geriatric patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We examined standard EEG recordings of 701 patients aged 84.6±6.4 years. These were performed over a 15 month-period in a geriatric hospital. The majority of patients were hospitalized and 46.5% suffered from multiple medical problems. RESULTS: We found EEG abnormalities in 392/701 (56%) patients. These consisted of permanent diffuse slowing, either isolated (17.1%) or with intermixed epileptiform abnormalities (2.4%), focal slowing (15.4%), intermittent diffuse slowing (8.9%), triphasic waves (1.14%), periodic epileptiform discharges (0.57%), flat and inactive tracing (0.14%), status epilepticus (0.99%), seizures (0.42%), interictal epileptiform abnormalities (8.7%). Epileptiform abnormalities (both ictal and interictal) were observed in 92/701 (13.1%) patients. These were focal in the majority of cases (85.9%), most frequent in temporal regions (42%), followed by centroparietal (20.2%) and temporo-parieto-occipital carrefour regions (17.2%), but less frequent in frontal (6.3%) and occipital regions (3.8%). We found sleep activity without other EEG abnormalities in 13.7% of patients and subclinical rhythmic electrographic discharge in adult (SREDA) in 1% of cases. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, EEG abnormalities were very common, which reflects the high frequency of cerebral dysfunction in geriatric patients. These abnormalities are of various types, often suggestive of different aetiologies, and may be helpful in clinical management.

Influenza vaccination in patients with haematologic malignancies: analysis of practices in 200 patients in a single center.

GOALS OF WORK: Despite recent studies demonstrating immunogenicity and tolerance of influenza vaccine in patients with haematologic malignancies, practices are still heterogeneous. The aim of this study was to analyse practices and factors influencing vaccination in a single centre, in the light of recent literature data. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Two hundred patients with haematologic malignancies were included and filled out a standardized questionnaire about influenza vaccination. They were observed prospectively during the epidemic season. MAIN RESULTS: Our study revealed a poor uptake of influenza vaccination (vaccinal rate: 25.5%), in particular in patients younger than 65 y and those with no comorbidities. The main reasons for not being vaccinated were: the vaccination was not suggested to patients (53.7%), vaccination was contraindicated by doctors (24.2%), the patient refused it (21.5%). The main reasons for physicians for contraindicating the vaccine were: haematologic malignancy could be worsened by vaccination (33.3%), vaccination could generate illness or asthenia (27.8%), vaccination would not be efficient (16.7%), unknown (22.2%). CONCLUSIONS: We believe that a better knowledge by physicians of tolerance and efficiency of the vaccine could enhance the vaccination coverage.

Long-term follow-up of an age-adapted C5R protocol followed by radiotherapy in 99 newly diagnosed primary CNS lymphomas: a prospective multicentric phase II study of the Groupe d'Etude des Lymphomes de l'Adulte (GELA).

BACKGROUND: This prospective multicentric phase II study aimed to confirm the results of the C5R protocol of high-dose methotrexate (MTX)-based chemotherapy (CT) for immunocompetent primary central nervous system lymphoma. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 99 patients received age-adapted CT (C5R protocol) followed by radiotherapy. Patients younger than 61 years (group 1, n = 45) received the full C5R with MTX, doxorubicin, vincristine, cyclophosphamide, and cytarabine. Patients aged 61-70 years (group 2, n = 36) received reduced doses. Patients older than 70 years (group 3, n = 18) received four courses of MTX, cyclophosphamide, and etoposide. RESULTS: Median age was 63 years and 51% of patients had performance status of more than one. Seventeen patients died of toxicity during CT. Complete response was achieved in 56%, 53%, and 28% of patients in groups 1, 2, and 3, respectively. With a median follow-up of 83 months, the 5-year progression-free survival was 31%, 28%, and 11% and the 5-year overall survival 42%, 31%, and 17% for groups 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Leukoencephalopathy occurred in 32% of assessable patients, in both group 1 and groups 2-3. CONCLUSION: The C5R protocol was feasible in the multicentric setting with favorable long-term survival in patients younger than 60 years. Despite dose adaptation, results in older patients were disappointing.

[Idiopathic generalised epilepsies in the elderly: the viewpoint of a geriatrician]. / Epilepsies généralisées idiopathiques chez le sujet âgé : le point de vue du gériatre.

INTRODUCTION: Long-term follow-up studies indicate a low remission rate in idiopathic generalised epilepsies (IGE) (Martinez-Juarez et al., 2006), suggesting they may persist to an advanced age. However there are few estimates of IGE frequency in the elderly. METHODS: EEGs of 700 patients aged over 70 years, recorded between January 2006 and March 2007, were reviewed for anomalies consistent with IGE. We then examined the clinical history of patients with these anomalies. RESULTS: A persistent IGE was identified in four female patients (mean age: 79 years); in two cases it was a juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME) and in two an epilepsy with grand mal seizures. Seizures in three patients had begun in childhood or adolescence and in one at 40 years. Before hospitalization, few or no seizures were reported and IGE had not been diagnosed. IGE was revealed in each patient by a relatively severe event: an absence status (AS), subcontinuous myoclonic seizures or repeated convulsive generalised seizures (CGS). These events were not situation-related but in one patient the relapse of simple convulsive seizures, may have been related to the withdrawal of anti-epileptic drugs (AED) several months previously. EEG records showed generalised spikes or polyspikes and waves organised in a status epilepticus or in interictal rhythmic discharges. In one case they were evident only from a 24 hours recording. Clonazepam injection was used to suppress the AS episode and the subintrant myoclonia. After the AS, interictal generalised epileptic discharges persisted. Two of the four patients had familial history of epilepsy or febrile seizures but in no case was an epileptogenic lesion evident in brain CT scan or MRI. Clinical exams and biologic parameters were normal. All of the patients had worked and were married with children. Appropriate therapies were followed after the diagnosis of IGE. One patient with JME had been treated by Valproate which was discontinued by the general practitioner because of lethargy and replaced by Carbamazepine; seizures were aggravated under both Carbamazepine and then Lamotrigine and until the patient became seizure-free on Levetiracetam. The antiepiletic treatment was also modified in a second patient, while the two others responded well to Valproate. CONCLUSIONS: IGE can exacerbate in the elderly, as different types of seizures including AS, subintrant myoclonia or repeated CGS. Our data suggest persistent IGE are quite frequent in an aged population and may be underestimated due to difficulties in diagnosis. Correctly diagnosed, adjustment of AED may offer substantial clinical improvements in IGE of the elderly.

Phase II study of gemcitabine-dexamethasone with or without cisplatin in relapsed or refractory mantle cell lymphoma.

Single-agent gemcitabine has shown encouraging results in patients with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL). This phase II study further explored the potential of a gemcitabine-based regimen in patients with relapsed or refractory MCL. Patients <70 years old received the PDG regimen: gemcitabine (1000 mg/m(2), days 1 and 8), dexamethasone (40 mg/m(2), days 1-4), and cisplatin (100 mg/m(2), day 1). Patients >/=70 years of age received dexamethasone and gemcitabine only (DG regimen). Thirty patients (12 in the DG group, 18 in the PDG group) with a median age 66.5 years (range, 47-81) received a median of six cycles in both groups. The overall response rate was 36.4% [95% confidence interval (CI), 15.2% to 64.6%] with the DG regimen and 44.4% (95% CI 24.6% to 66.3%) with the PDG regimen. The median progression-free survival was 3 months (95% CI 0.0-7.9) in the DG group and 8.5 months (95% CI 4.8-12.2) in the PDG group. With a median follow-up of 38.8 months, 13 patients (including 11 given PDG) are still alive. DG was well tolerated, and thrombocytopenia was the most prevalent toxicity in patients receiving PDG. Both regimens deserve to be further investigated as a backbone for combination chemotherapy in patients with MCL.

Schnitzler syndrome associated with systemic marginal zone B-cell lymphoma.

Schnitzler syndrome is a rare condition defined by chronic urticaria and monoclonal IgM gammopathy. Malignant evolution to Waldenström disease (WD) has been reported in several cases. We report a 49-year-old man who developed a marginal zone B-cell lymphoma (MZL) 3 years after the beginning of Schnitzler syndrome. This is the first report of MZL in association with Schnitzler syndrome. IgM gammopathy is a clue for the diagnosis of Schnitzler syndrome. This condition needs to be closely monitored; it can precede the onset of an authentic lymphoproliferative disorder including WD and rarely MZL.

A phase II trial of rituximab as adjuvant to intensive sequential chemotherapy in patients under 60 years with untreated poor-prognosis diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

The potential benefit of rituximab as adjuvant to high-dose therapy (HDT) has been investigated in patients under 60 years with poor-risk (age-adjusted international prognostic index at 2-3) CD20+ diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). The treatment consisted of four cycles of high-dose CEOP (cyclophosphamide, epirubicin, vincristine, prednisone), plus etoposide and cisplatin during the two last cycles. Peripheral blood stem cells were collected after cycle 1, and reinfused after cycles 3 and 4. Four weekly rituximab infusions were subsequently delivered. Among the 36 patients included, 30 could complete chemotherapy schedule, and 24/36 received rituximab. A complete response occured in 26/36 patients (72%). With a median follow-up of 30 months, the estimated 5-year overall survival (OS) and event-free survival (EFS) rates (mean +/- s.d.) were 65 +/- 16 and 63 +/- 15%, respectively. For the 24 patients who received both chemotherapy and rituximab, the estimated 5-year OS and EFS rates were 86 +/- 14 and 82 +/- 15%. These data suggest that rituximab after HDT is feasible. Both complete remission rate and survival curves compare favorably with the poor outcome usually observed in high-risk DLBCL patients managed with HDT without rituximab.

High survival rate with the LMT-89 regimen in lymphoblastic lymphoma (LL), but not in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL).

The most appropriate treatment for lymphoblastic lymphomas (LL) remains uncertain. We treated 27 patients with newly diagnosed LL according to an LMT-89 protocol, which is a modified version of the LMT-81 protocol previously reported in pediatric patients. The median age was 31 years. Mediastinal enlargement was present in 25/27 patients, with pleural effusion in 12. Four patients had central nervous system involvement and 12 had bone marrow involvement and 24/27 (89%) had advanced Ann Arbor stage III-IV disease. Complete remission (CR) was achieved in 20/27 patients, unconfirmed complete remission in three patients (residual mediastinal lesion on computed tomography scan) and four failed induction therapy (ORR: 85%). Twelve patients (44%) remained in continuous CR with a median follow-up of 95 months. Survival at 3 years (when all the events occurred in our series) was 63%. Bone marrow involvement was associated with a poor outcome. Overall survival was 85+/-20% in patients without bone marrow involvement compared to 37+/-30% in patients with bone marrow involvement. The Ann Arbor stage, age and serum lactate dehydrogenase level did not influence outcomes. This LMT-89 protocol is a safe regimen and is highly effective in advanced LL without bone marrow involvement.

Burkitt lymphoma in adults: a prospective study of 72 patients treated with an adapted pediatric LMB protocol.

BACKGROUND: We conducted a phase II study to evaluate in 72 adult patients the efficacy of the intensive LMB chemotherapy regimen, previously reported by the Société Française d'Oncologie Pédiatrique for children with Burkitt lymphoma and L3 acute lymphoblastic leukemia. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Treatment began with a prephase (low-dose steroids, vincristine and cyclophosphamide), except in patients with low tumor burden. Group A (resected stage I and abdominal stage II disease) received three courses of vincristine, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin and prednisone. Group B (not eligible for groups A or C) received five courses of chemotherapy comprising high-dose methotrexate, infusional cytarabine and intrathecal (IT) methotrexate. Group C (patients with central nervous system and/or bone marrow involvement with < 30% of blast cells) received eight courses containing intensified high-dose methotrexate, high-dose cytarabine, etoposide and triple IT injections. RESULTS: The 2 year event-free survival and overall survival rates for the 72 patients were 65% and 70%, respectively. Age > or = 33 years and high lactate dehydrogenase value were associated with a shorter survival. No response to COP was also associated with a poor outcome in group B. CONCLUSION: Patients with advanced-stage Burkitt lymphoma, including those with bone marrow and/or central nervous system involvement, can be cured with a short-term intensive chemotherapy regime tailored to the tumor burden.

How to define intermediate stage in Hodgkin's lymphoma?

BACKGROUND: Intermediate or unfavourable stage Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) definition relies upon at least three different scoring systems defined by cooperative groups (EORTC, GHSG and Canadian-ECOG). We aimed to investigate their efficacy and their correlation with International Prognostic Score (IPS) for advanced HL. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We studied a population of 1156 patients with localized stage HL treated prospectively within GELA centres in H8 (518 patients) and H9 (638 patients) protocols. Median age: 30 yr, 18%, Female 50%; stage I: 25%; stage II: 75%. According to scoring systems 70% had 0-1 EORTC factors; 60% 0-1 GHSG factors and 82% 0-1 Canadian factors. The IPS for advanced stages was available only in H9 study with 64% 0-1 factor. RESULTS: Survival curves according to each of the different scoring systems could significantly discriminate the subgroup populations. When a multivariate Cox analysis was performed for overall survival (OS) including all the scoring system variables: age > 45 yr, sex male, Haemoglobin < 10.5 g/dL, lymphocytes < 600/microL, B symptoms with elevated ESR, extra nodal sites did retain an independent significant value. Probability of OS was 99%, 98%, 92%, 82% and 73% for patients with 1-5 factors, respectively P < 0.0001. CONCLUSION: These factors are similar for most of them with those described in the IPS when stages III and IV are replaced by extra nodal localization. This new score should be validated in other prospective trials, as it will simplify the Hodgkin prognostic scoring systems for localized and advanced stages.

Long-term results of the R-CHOP study in the treatment of elderly patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma: a study by the Groupe d'Etude des Lymphomes de l'Adulte.

PURPOSE: To analyze the long-term outcome of patients included in the Lymphome Non Hodgkinien study 98-5 (LNH98-5) comparing cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (CHOP) to rituximab plus CHOP (R-CHOP) in elderly patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. PATIENTS AND METHODS: LNH98-5 was a randomized study that included 399 previously untreated patients, age 60 to 80 years, with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Patients received eight cycles of classical CHOP (cyclophosphamide 750 mg/m(2), doxorubicin 50 mg/m(2), vincristine 1.4 mg/m(2), and prednisone 40 mg/m(2) for 5 days) every 3 weeks. In R-CHOP, rituximab 375 mg/m(2) was administered the same day as CHOP. Survivals were analyzed using the intent-to-treat principle. RESULTS: Median follow-up is 5 years at present. Event-free survival, progression-free survival, disease-free survival, and overall survival remain statistically significant in favor of the combination of R-CHOP (P = .00002, P < .00001, P < .00031, and P < .0073, respectively, in the log-rank test). Patients with low-risk or high-risk lymphoma according to the age-adjusted International Prognostic Index have longer survivals if treated with the combination. No long-term toxicity appeared to be associated with the R-CHOP combination. CONCLUSION: Using the combination of R-CHOP leads to significant improvement of the outcome of elderly patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, with significant survival benefit maintained during a 5-year follow-up. This combination should become the standard for treating these patients.