ABSTRACT
Background@#This study evaluated the outcomes of patients with refractory/relapsed Hodgkin lymphoma (RRHL) treated with a bendamustine-based regimen in combination with ifosfamide, etoposide, and vinorelbine (VIBE). @*Methods@#Consecutive RRHL patients who were treated with the VIBE regimen were identified and studied for clinicopathologic characteristics, response to VIBE regimen, event-free survival (EFS), and feasibility of an autologous stem-cell transplant (autoSCT). @*Results@#In total, 24 patients received the VIBE regimen, and a median of 3 cycles were administered. In this cohort, 80% of the patients had received ≥2 prior lines of therapy. The overall and complete response rates with VIBE were 79% and 42%, respectively. After a median follow-up (following VIBE regimen) of 14 months (range, 3‒76), the 3-year EFS and OS were 46% and 74%, respectively. Of the eligible patients, 92% underwent successful AutoSCT. The mean CD34+ cell count in the autograft was 5.5×106/kg (SD 2.07). Neutropenia was the commonest hematologic toxicity and it was observed in 42% of the patients. However, only 9% of the patients developed grade III/IV febrile neutropenia. Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting were the second most common grade III/IV toxicities in our cohort of patients. @*Conclusion@#In this retrospective analysis, the combination regimen, VIBE, has shown good efficacy in heavily pre-treated patients with RRHL without compromising stem cell collection. These encouraging results provide a rationale for further development of this regimen.
ABSTRACT
Background@#This study evaluated the outcomes of patients with refractory/relapsed Hodgkin lymphoma (RRHL) treated with a bendamustine-based regimen in combination with ifosfamide, etoposide, and vinorelbine (VIBE). @*Methods@#Consecutive RRHL patients who were treated with the VIBE regimen were identified and studied for clinicopathologic characteristics, response to VIBE regimen, event-free survival (EFS), and feasibility of an autologous stem-cell transplant (autoSCT). @*Results@#In total, 24 patients received the VIBE regimen, and a median of 3 cycles were administered. In this cohort, 80% of the patients had received ≥2 prior lines of therapy. The overall and complete response rates with VIBE were 79% and 42%, respectively. After a median follow-up (following VIBE regimen) of 14 months (range, 3‒76), the 3-year EFS and OS were 46% and 74%, respectively. Of the eligible patients, 92% underwent successful AutoSCT. The mean CD34+ cell count in the autograft was 5.5×106/kg (SD 2.07). Neutropenia was the commonest hematologic toxicity and it was observed in 42% of the patients. However, only 9% of the patients developed grade III/IV febrile neutropenia. Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting were the second most common grade III/IV toxicities in our cohort of patients. @*Conclusion@#In this retrospective analysis, the combination regimen, VIBE, has shown good efficacy in heavily pre-treated patients with RRHL without compromising stem cell collection. These encouraging results provide a rationale for further development of this regimen.
ABSTRACT
Hodgkin’s lymphoma most commonly presents as painless lymphadenopathy and systemic B symptoms like fever, night sweats, and weight loss. But rarely, it can present with unusual paraneoplastic manifestations. In the present case, we report a 30-year-old woman who presented with sub-acute onset pan-cerebellar symptoms. The serum neuronal antibody panel was negative. She underwent F-18 FDG PET/CT to evaluate the neoplastic etiology as the underlying cause, which demonstrated both the primary etiology and the paraneoplastic changes in the brain.
ABSTRACT
Pulmonary blastoma (PB) is a rare thoracic malignancy and preoperative diagnosis is challenging. A young man presented with dyspnea and chest pain for 3–4 months and chest-computed tomography (CT) revealed large mass in the left lung upper lobe and pleural effusion. Repeated CT-guided fine-needle aspiration cytology from the lesion and pleural fluid aspiration was negative for malignancy. F-18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography-computed tomography (FDG PET-CT) revealed heterogeneous tracer avidity in left lung mass with areas of necrosis. Real-time PET-CT-guided biopsy from metabolically active component of the lesion revealed biphasic PB on histopathology.