Early-stage mantle cell lymphoma: a retrospective analysis from the International Lymphoma Radiation Oncology Group (ILROG).

BACKGROUND: Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) rarely presents as early-stage disease, but clinical observations suggest that patients who present with early-stage disease may have better outcomes than those with advanced-stage disease. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In this 13-institution study, we examined outcomes among 179 patients with early-stage (stage I or II) MCL in an attempt to identify prognostic factors that influence treatment selection and outcome. Variables examined included clinical characteristics, treatment modality, response to therapy, sites of failure, and survival. RESULTS: Patients were predominantly male (78%) with head and neck being the most common presenting sites (75%). Most failures occurred outside the original disease site (79%). Although the administration of radiation therapy, either alone or with chemotherapy, reduced the risk of local failure, it did not translate into an improved freedom from progression or overall survival (OS). The treatment outcomes were independent of treatment modality. The 10-year OS for patients treated with chemotherapy alone, chemo-radiation therapy and radiation therapy alone were 69%, 62%, and 74% (P = 0.79), and the 10-year freedom from progression were 46%, 43%, and 31% (P = 0.64), respectively. CONCLUSION: Given the excellent OS rates regardless of initial therapy in patients with early-stage MCL, de-intensified therapy to limit treatment-related toxicity is a reasonable approach.

Long-term outcome of 487 patients with early-stage extra-nodal marginal zone lymphoma.

BACKGROUND: Localized early-stage extra-nodal marginal zone lymphoma (MZL) presents with heterogeneous organ involvement and is treated with various modalities, including resection, radiotherapy, and systemic therapy. We report the long-term outcome of a large cohort of extra-nodal MZL and assess the impact of patient and disease characteristics, organ site, and treatment strategy on disease control and survival. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We identified 487 consecutive patients with stage IE or IIE MZL referred between 1992 and 2012 to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Pathology was reviewed by hematopathologists at our institution. Patient and disease factors as well as treatment types were analyzed for association with relapse-free survival, overall survival, and cumulative incidence of relapse. RESULTS: Median follow-up after treatment was 4.7 years. Five-year relapse-free survival and overall survival were 60% and 89%, respectively. Cumulative incidence of disease-specific death at 5 years was 1.3%. Radiotherapy alone was the initial treatment in 50% of patients, followed by surgical resection (30%), observation (8%), immunotherapy (4%), and chemotherapy (2%). Initial treatment type, primary disease site, and number of involved sites were significant factors in multivariable analysis of relapse (all P < 0.05). When compared with stomach, MZL originating in other disease sites (HR > 2.0, P ≤ 0.001), except for thyroid, had higher risk of relapse. Strategies such as antibiotics or topical therapies were associated with higher risk of relapse when compared with radiation therapy (P < 0.001). Crude rate of transformation to pathologically confirmed large-cell lymphoma was 2% (11 patients). CONCLUSION: Overall and cause-specific survival are high in early-stage extra-nodal MZL. Curative-intent treatment led to fewer relapses and reduced the need for salvage. Stomach cases had lower risk of relapse than other anatomic primary sites. This study supports the use of local therapies to treat stage IE and IIE MZL.

Extranodal MALT Lymphoma of the Right Triceps Muscle following Influenza Vaccine Injection: A Rare Case with an Interesting Presentation.

The study describes a case of a 67-year-old female who developed a Stage I E marginal zone lymphoma of the right triceps muscle 1 month after influenza vaccination at the same site. She was treated with single modality, involved field radiation therapy (IFRT) to 4000 cGy in 20 fractions with excellent response and no evidence of disease after one year followup.

Stanford V program for locally extensive and advanced Hodgkin lymphoma: the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center experience.

BACKGROUND: The Stanford group has reported excellent results with the Stanford V regimen for patients with bulky and/or advanced Hodgkin lymphoma (HL). However, Gobbi reported markedly inferior failure-free survival (FFS) comparing Stanford V to other regimens but included major deviations from the original program. We retrospectively examined whether treatment at our institution carefully following Stanford V guidelines would confirm the original Stanford outcome data. PATIENTS AND METHODS: From June 1995 to May 2002, 126 patients with either locally extensive or advanced HL were treated with the 12-week Stanford V chemotherapy program followed by 36-Gy involved-field radiotherapy to sites initially > or =5 cm and/or to macroscopic splenic disease. Overall, 26% had stage IV disease and 20% had international prognostic score (IPS) > or =4. Overall survival (OS), disease-specific survival, progression-free survival (PFS), FFS, and freedom from second relapse (FF2R) were determined. RESULTS: The 5- and 7-year OS were 90% and 88%, respectively. The 5-year FFS was 78%. IPS > or =4 was a significant independent predictor of worse OS and PFS. The FF2R was 64% at 3 years. CONCLUSION: Stanford V with appropriate radiotherapy is a highly effective regimen for locally extensive and advanced HL.

The role of FDG-PET imaging and involved field radiotherapy in relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

We examined the role of fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) and the addition of involved field radiotherapy (IFRT) as potential modifiers of salvage therapy. From January 2000 to June 2007, 83 patients with chemosensitive relapsed or primary refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) underwent FDG-PET scans following second-line chemotherapy before high-dose therapy with autologous stem cell rescue (HDT/ASCR). We evaluated the prognostic value of having a negative FDG-PET scan before HDT/ASCR and whether IFRT improved the outcomes. Median follow-up was 45 months, and the 3-year PFS, disease-specific survival (DSS) and OS were 72, 80 and 78%, respectively. Multivariate analysis revealed that a positive FDG-PET scan had worse PFS (hazard ratio=(HR) 3.4; P=0.014), DSS (HR=7.7; P=0.001) and OS (HR=5.4; P=0.001), and that patients not receiving IFRT had worse PFS (HR=2.7; P=0.03) and DSS (HR=2.8, P=0.059). Patients who received IFRT had better local control with fewer relapses within prior involved sites compared with those that did not receive IFRT (P=0.006). These outcomes confirm the important prognostic value of FDG-PET scans before undergoing HDT/ASCR. It also suggests that the role of IFRT should be evaluated further.

Second malignancy risk associated with treatment of Hodgkin's lymphoma: meta-analysis of the randomised trials.

BACKGROUND: Despite several investigations, second malignancy risks (SMR) following radiotherapy alone (RT), chemotherapy alone (CT) and combined chemoradiotherapy (CRT) for Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) remain controversial. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We sought individual patient data from randomised trials comparing RT versus CRT, CT versus CRT, RT versus CT or involved-field (IF) versus extended-field (EF) RT for untreated HL. Overall SMR (including effects of salvage treatment) were compared using Peto's method. RESULTS: Data for between 53% and 69% of patients were obtained for the four comparisons. (i) RT versus CRT (15 trials, 3343 patients): SMR were lower with CRT than with RT as initial treatment (odds ratio (OR) = 0.78, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.62-0.98 and P = 0.03). (ii) CT versus CRT (16 trials, 2861 patients): SMR were marginally higher with CRT than with CT as initial treatment (OR = 1.38, CI 1.00-1.89 and P = 0.05). (iii) IF-RT versus EF-RT (19 trials, 3221 patients): no significant difference in SMR (P = 0.28) although more breast cancers occurred with EF-RT (P = 0.04 and OR = 3.25). CONCLUSIONS: Administration of CT in addition to RT as initial therapy for HL decreases overall SMR by reducing relapse and need for salvage therapy. Administration of RT additional to CT marginally increases overall SMR in advanced stages. Breast cancer risk (but not SMR in general) was substantially higher after EF-RT. Caution is needed in applying these findings to current therapies.

FDG-PET scanning for detection and staging of extranodal marginal zone lymphomas of the MALT type: a report of 42 cases.

BACKGROUND: Although reports have suggested that FDG-PET scans were not useful for staging of extranodal marginal zone lymphomas (MZL), experience at our center suggests otherwise. Thus we reviewed the findings of FDG-PET scans in patients with extranodal MZL seen at our center. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A database of 175 patients with histologically-confirmed diagnoses of extranodal MZL was reviewed. Forty-two patients who had had FDG-PET scans for initial staging were identified. All information was obtained by retrospective review of medical records and PET scans. RESULTS: Thirty-four (81%) patients had focal tracer uptake within verified tumor sites, six (14%) patients did not, and two (5%) patients had indeterminate uptake. Seven of the 34 (21%) patients with uptake within verified tumor sites had uptake in regional lymph nodes and four patients were upstaged due to FDG-PET findings. Eight patients also obtained post-treatment FDG-PET scans. In five of those eight, the repeated FDG-PET scan indicated a complete response, and in three there was an indeterminate or mixed response. CONCLUSION: FDG-PET scans carried out for initial staging of extranodal MZL detected disease in a high proportion of patients. This study suggests that imaging with FDG-PET scans is useful for both initial staging and follow-up of patients with extranodal MZL.

The NHL-15 protocol for aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphomas: a sequential dose-dense, dose-intense regimen of doxorubicin, vincristine and high-dose cyclophosphamide.

BACKGROUND: The NHL-15 protocol is a novel, dose-intense, dose-dense, sequential chemotherapy program developed to improve outcome in advanced, aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphomas. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The phase II NHL-15 protocol comprised: (i) induction [doxorubicin 60 mg/m(2) i.v. on weeks 1, 3, 5 and 7 plus vincristine 1.4 mg/m(2) i.v. (no cap) on weeks 1, 2, 3, 5 and 7]; and (ii) consolidation (cyclophosphamide 3000 mg/m(2) i.v. on weeks 9, 11 and 13 plus granulocyte colony-stimulating factor 5 microg/kg subcutaneous on days 3-10 following each cyclophosphamide dose). Patients with aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (working formulation: intermediate grade or immunoblastic), bulky stage I and stages II-IV, were eligible. RESULTS: There are 165 eligible patients with a 6.9-year median follow-up (range 0.5-141 months) and a median age of 48 years. For the entire group, 72.1% achieved complete remission, and at 5 years disease-free survival was 57.8% and overall survival (OS) was 62.2%. Ideal dose delivery was >90%. Acute and late toxicities of treatment were manageable and acceptable. Toxic death on treatment was 2.4%. When the diffuse large cell lymphoma histologies were grouped according to the International Prognostic Index (IPI), complete remission and OS in the low-intermediate (LI), and high-intermediate (HI) risk groups were improved by 5%-15% compared with historical CHOP (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine and prednisone). This improvement was also noted for LI and HI risk groups in the age-adjusted (aa)IPI analysis for patients < or =60 years of age. CONCLUSIONS: The NHL-15 program can be administered safely and effectively to achieve high rates of durable remission when used for the treatment of advanced stage, aggressive, non-Hodgkin's lymphomas. The 5%-15% improvement in 5-year OS compared with historical CHOP, according to the IPI/aaIPI model (in LI and HI risk groups), is encouraging. Further evaluation and prospective testing of the NHL-15 protocol appears to be warranted.

Progressive disease following autologous transplantation in patients with chemosensitive relapsed or primary refractory Hodgkin's disease or aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

To determine the outcome of patients with chemosensitive relapsed or primary refractory Hodgkin's disease (HD) or aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) whose disease progresses after autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT), we reviewed the records of 82 patients with HD and 139 patients with NHL transplanted between 1993 and 2000. Disease progression occurred in 25 patients with HD and 66 patients with NHL, with median times to progression (TTP) of 3.8 and 5.1 months, respectively. Median survival times following ASCT failure were 26 and 7.7 months for patients with HD and NHL, respectively. The second-line international prognostic index (sIPI) and the TTP (before or after 3 months from ASCT) independently were predictive of survival for NHL patients. In addition, treatment with rituximab for patients with B cell NHL was associated with improved survival (median 28.6 vs 4.1 months, P=0.003), independent of the sIPI and TTP. Prognostic factors for patients with HD were not identified. Only two patients, one of whom was among six patients who received second autologous transplants, remain disease-free. The uniformly poor outcome associated with disease progression after ASCT should prompt efforts to assess the feasibility and utility of detecting and treating post transplant residual disease during a minimal disease state, before overt progression.

Ifosfamide, carboplatin, etoposide (ICE)-based second-line chemotherapy for the management of relapsed and refractory aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Despite advances in the management of aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, the treatment of relapsed and primary refractory disease remains a major challenge. High-dose chemotherapy or radio-chemotherapy followed by autologous or allogeneic stem cell transplantation (SCT) is a potentially curative treatment approach; however, the applicability of this approach is restricted to patients responding to second-line chemotherapy. Thus, second-line therapy must be both efficacious and without stem cell or organ toxicity that would compromise the ability to proceed to SCT. The ifosfamide, carboplatin and etoposide (ICE) regimen was developed to address these challenges. In a series of prospective clinical trials, 222 patients were treated with the ICE regimen. with an overall response rate of 72%. The mobilization of stem cells with this regimen was excellent,with 86% of patients mobilizing at least 2.0 x 10(6) CD34+ cells/kg. The incidence of treatment-related toxicity precluding SCT after ICE is very low. Herein, we report the clinical results of this treatment program for 222 patients with 5-year median follow-up for surviving patients. Rituximab was subsequently added to the ICE regimen for patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) to improve upon these favorable results. This resulted in an increased complete remission rate. Additional follow-up is necessary to determine if this improvement in the complete remission rate will confer an increase in the overall survival following SCT.

The involved field is back: issues in delineating the radiation field in Hodgkin's disease.

During the last century, the role of radiation therapy in the treatment of Hodgkin's disease (HD) has changed drastically. From a palliative treatment reserved for bulky lymph nodes of an incurable disease at the beginning of the century, to an exciting primary treatment used alone to cure most stages in the 1960s and 1970s, to the present more limited role as consolidation treatment after chemotherapy. Interestingly, the radiation field size has always influenced the evolution of treatment principles of HD. Over several decades, large or extended field radiotherapy has become synonymous with the successful treatment of HD. But the critical transformation from a single-modality to a combined-modality therapy, together with improvement in imaging and radiation planning techniques, mandates a reassessment of the delineation of appropriate radiation fields in HD. In this manuscript we review the comeback of the involved field, address design questions and offer field borders for common disease sites.

A novel response of cancer cells to radiation involves autophagy and formation of acidic vesicles.

The mechanisms underlying neoplastic epithelial cell killing by ionizing radiation are largely unknown. We discovered a novel response to radiation manifested by autophagy and the development of acidic vesicular organelles (AVO). Acidification of AVO was mediated by the vacuolar H+-ATPase. Staining with the lysosomotropic agent acridine orange enabled us to quantify AVO accumulation and to demonstrate their time- and dose-dependent appearance. The appearance of AVO occurred in the presence of the pan-caspase inhibitor z-Val-Ala-Asp(Ome)-fluoromethyl ketone, but was inhibited by 3-methyladenine, an inhibitor of autophagy. The accretion of AVO in surviving progenies of irradiated cells, and the increased incidence of clonogenic death after inhibition of vacuolar H+-ATPase suggest that formation of acidic organelles represents a novel defense mechanism against radiation damage.

A 2-step comprehensive high-dose chemoradiotherapy second-line program for relapsed and refractory Hodgkin disease: analysis by intent to treat and development of a prognostic model.

Salvage of patients with relapsed and refractory Hodgkin disease (HD) with high-dose chemoradiotherapy (HDT) and autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) results in event-free survival (EFS) rates from 30% to 50%. Unfortunately, the reduction in toxicity associated with modern supportive care has improved EFS by only 5% to 10% and has not reduced the relapse rate. Results of a comprehensive 2-step protocol encompassing dose-dense and dose-intense second-line chemotherapy, followed by HDT and ASCT, are reported. Sixty-five consecutive patients, 22 with primary refractory HD and 43 with relapsed HD, were treated with 2 biweekly cycles of ifosfamide, carboplatin, and etoposide (ICE). Peripheral blood progenitor cells from responding patients were collected, and the patients were given accelerated fractionation involved field radiotherapy (IFRT) followed by cyclophosphamide-etoposide and either intensive accelerated fractionation total lymphoid irradiation or carmustine and ASCT. The EFS rate at a median follow-up of 43 months, as analyzed by intent to treat, was 58%. The response rate to ICE was 88%, and the EFS rate for patients who underwent transplantation was 68%. Cox regression analysis identified 3 factors before the initiation of ICE that predicted for outcome: B symptoms, extranodal disease, and complete remission duration of less than 1 year. EFS rates were 83% for patients with 0 to 1 adverse factors, 27% for patients with 2 factors, and 10% for patients with 3 factors (P <.001). These results compare favorably with other series and document the feasibility and efficacy of giving uniform dose-dense and dose-intense cytoreductive chemotherapy and integrating accelerated fractionation radiotherapy into an ASCT treatment program. This prognostic model provides a basis for risk-adapted HDT.

Role of transforming growth factor beta in the growth inhibition of human breast cancer cells by basic fibroblast growth factor.

Recent studies from our laboratory have revealed that basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) selectively inhibits the proliferation of human MCF-7 breast cancer cells. It has also been shown to enhance cis-platinum-induced apoptosis, decrease levels of the anti-apoptotic gene product bcl-2, and increase levels of the cyclin-dependent protein kinase inhibitor p21/WAF1/Cip1. Transforming growth factor beta-1 (TGFbeta1), a cell growth regulator has been found to have an inhibitory effect on breast cancer cells. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the possible role of TGFbeta1 in the antiproliferative effects of bFGF in MCF-7 breast cancer cells. We found that exogenous, as well as endogenous (overexpressed) bFGF increased TGFbeta1 mRNA expression in the cells and enhanced the secretion of TGFbeta1 into culture medium. However, exogenous addition of TGFbeta1 neither led to a decrease in bcl-2 nor induced an increase in the levels of p21/WAF1/Cip1 and neutralizing antibodies to TGFbeta1, did not reverse bFGF-induced G1 arrest northe increase in p21/WAF1/Cip1 level. In contrast, antisense oligonucleotides to TGFbeta1 abrogated the antiproliferative effects and inhibited the induction of p21/WAF1/Cip1 by bFGF in MCF-7 cells. These data suggest that the anti-proliferative effects of bFGF in human MCF-7 breast cancer cells are mediated by endogenous TGFbeta1, while exogenous TGFbeta1 does not mimic all the effects of bFGF on these breast cancer cells. These findings provide an important basis for further investigations into the autocrine and paracrine processes that control the growth of breast cancer cells.