Phase II study of troxacitabine, a novel dioxolane nucleoside analog, in patients with refractory leukemia.

PURPOSE: To investigate the activity of a novel dioxolane L-nucleoside analog, troxacitabine (L-(-)-OddC, BCH-4556), in patients with refractory leukemia. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Study participants were patients with refractory or relapsed acute myeloid (AML) or lymphocytic (ALL) leukemia, myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), or chronic myelogenous leukemia in blastic phase (CML-BP). Troxacitabine was provided as an intravenous infusion for more than 30 minutes daily for 5 days at a dose of 8.0 mg/m(2)/d (40 mg/m(2) per course). Courses were given every 3 to 4 weeks according to antileukemic efficacy. RESULTS: Forty-two patients (AML, 18 patients; MDS, one patient; ALL, six patients; CML-BP, 17 patients) were treated. Median age was 51 years (range, 23 to 80 years); 22 patients were male. Stomatitis was the most significant adverse event, with three patients (7%) and two patients (5%), respectively, experiencing grade 3 or 4 toxicity. Ten patients (24%) had grade 3 hand-foot syndrome, and two patients (5%) had grade 3 skin rash. One patient (2%) had grade 3 fatigue and anorexia. Marrow hypoplasia occurred between days 14 and 28 in 12 (75%) of 16 assessable patients with AML. Two complete remissions and one partial remission (18%) were observed in 16 assessable patients with AML. None of six patients with ALL responded. Six (37%) of 16 assessable patients with CML-BP experienced a return to chronic-phase disease. CONCLUSION: Troxacitabine has significant antileukemic activity in patients with AML and CML-BP.

Myelodysplastic syndrome and acute myeloid leukemia after autotransplantation for lymphoma: a multicenter case-control study.

Although numerous reports indicate that patients receiving autotransplants for lymphoma are at increased risk for myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS)/acute myeloid leukemia (AML), the separate contributions of pretransplantation- and transplantation-related therapy are not well characterized. We conducted a case-control study of 56 patients with MDS/AML and 168 matched controls within a cohort of 2 739 patients receiving autotransplants for Hodgkin disease or non-Hodgkin lymphoma at 12 institutions (1989-1995). Detailed abstraction of medical records was undertaken to determine all pre- and posttransplantation therapy, and transplantation-related procedures. In multivariate analyses, risks of MDS/AML significantly increased with the intensity of pretransplantation chemotherapy with mechlorethamine (relative risks [RRs] = 2.0 and 4.3 for cumulative doses < 50 mg/m2 and > or = 50 mg/m,2 respectively; trend over dose categories, P =.04) or chlorambucil (RRs = 3.8 and 8.4 for duration < 10 months or > or = 10 months, respectively; trend, P =.009), compared with cyclophosphamide-based therapy. Transplantation-conditioning regimens including total-body irradiation (TBI) at doses 12 Gy or less did not appear to elevate leukemia risk (RR = 1.3; P =.48) compared with non-TBI regimens; however, a statistically significant increased risk was found for TBI doses of 13.2 Gy (RR = 4.6; P =.03). Peripheral blood stem cells were associated with a nonsignificant increased risk of MDS/AML (RR = 1.8; P =.12) compared with bone marrow grafts. Our data show that type and intensity of pretransplantation chemotherapy with alkylating agents are important risk factors of MDS/AML following autotransplantation. Transplantation-related factors may also modulate this risk; however, the apparent contribution of high-dose TBI requires confirmation.