Pegfilgrastim reduces the length of hospitalization and the time to engraftment in multiple myeloma patients treated with melphalan 200 and auto-SCT compared with filgrastim.

To reduce the duration of neutropenia after conditioning chemotherapy and autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (APBSCT), granulocyte-colony stimulating factors (G-CSF) are commonly administered. We retrospectively evaluated the impact of pegfilgrastim compared to filgrastim on neutrophil engraftment, hospital stay, and supportive measures in patients with multiple myeloma after conditioning with Melphalan 200 (Mel200) followed by APBSCT. Ninety-two APBSCT after Mel200 treatment were performed in 72 patients between January 2006 and December 2009 at our institution. Patients received either single-dose pegfilgrastim (n = 46; 50%), or daily filgrastim (n = 46; 50%) after APBSCT (median duration of filgrastim use, 9 days; range, 3-14 days). Duration of neutropenia grade IV was shorter with pegfilgrastim compared with filgrastim (median, 5 days (range, 3-14 days) versus 6 days (range, 3-9 days), p = 0.0079). The length of hospitalization differed significantly (pegfilgrastim (median, 14.5 days; range, 11-47 days) versus filgrastim (median, 15.5 days; range, 12-64 days), p = 0.024). Pegfilgrastim-treated patients had less red blood cell transfusions (median, 0 transfusions (range, 0-10) versus 0.5 transfusions (range, 0-9), p = 0.00065). Pegfilgrastim was associated with reduced cost of the treatment procedure compared with filgrastim (p = 0.031). Pegfilgrastim appears to be at least equivalent to filgrastim without additional expenditure in myeloma patients treated with Mel200 and APBSCT.

Equivalence of pegfilgrastim and filgrastim in lymphoma patients treated with BEAM followed by autologous stem cell transplantation.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of pegfilgrastim on engraftment, hospital stay and resources in patients with Hodgkin's and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma after conditioning with high-dose BEAM followed by autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (APBSCT) compared with filgrastim. METHODS: We reviewed patient charts and our prospective transplantation database for clinical data from the post-transplant period. An integrated cost analysis, including the use of blood products and length of hospital stay, was also performed. RESULTS: Fourteen (26%) patients with Hodgkin's lymphoma and 40 (74%) patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma were analyzed. Thirty-four (68%) patients received single-dose pegfilgrastim (6 mg), and 20 (32%) patients received daily filgrastim (5 µg/kg) after APBSCT. No differences were observed regarding duration of neutropenia grade 4 (pegfilgrastim median 7 days/filgrastim median 8 days; p = 0.13), thrombocytopenia grade 4 (7/9.5 days, respectively; p = 0.21), fever (4.5/2 days; p = 0.057), intravenous antibiotic treatment (11/10 days; p = 0.75) or length of hospital stay (16.5/16 days; p = 0.27) between the groups. The use of pegfilgrastim resulted in 12% higher treatment-related costs when compared to filgrastim, without reaching statistical significance (p = 0.38). CONCLUSION: Pegfilgrastim appears to be equivalent to filgrastim after high-dose BEAM followed by APBSCT in the treatment of lymphoma patients.

Concomitant statin use does not impair the clinical outcome of patients with diffuse large B cell lymphoma treated with rituximab-CHOP.

Preclinical data indicated a detrimental effect of statins on the anti-lymphoma activity of rituximab. We evaluated the impact of concomitant statin medication on the response and survival of patients with diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) receiving rituximab-cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, prednisone (R-CHOP) as first-line therapy. Medical histories of patients with DLBCL who were treated with R-CHOP as first-line therapy were assessed for concomitant statin use, response after completion of chemotherapy, event-free survival (EFS), and overall survival (OS). Furthermore, 2-[(18)F]fluor-2-deoxyglucose (FDG)-PET/CT results after completion of first-line therapy were compared between the groups. Overall, 145 patients with DLBCL treated with R-CHOP from January 2001 to December 2009 were analyzed. Twenty-one (15%) patients received statins throughout therapy. Five-year EFS was 67.3% in patients without statins compared with 79% in patients receiving statins during R-CHOP (HR, 0.47; 95% CI, 0.15-1.54, p = 0.2). Five-year OS was 81.4% for patients without statins compared with 93.3% for patients taking statins (HR, 0.58; 95% CI 0.07-4.55, p = 0.6). There were no statistically significant differences in the rates of complete remissions between the two groups (75% in the non-statin group versus 86% in the statin group, p = 0.45). A trend toward a lower rate of complete metabolic responses in FDG-PET/CT after chemotherapy was seen in patients without statin medication compared with the patients taking statins (84% versus 92%, p = 0.068). Concomitant statin use had no adverse impact on response to chemotherapy, EFS, and OS in patients treated with R-CHOP for DLBCL.

Long-term follow-up of interferon-alpha induction and low-dose maintenance therapy in hairy cell leukemia.

OBJECTIVE: Interferon-alpha (IFNalpha) was the first effective pharmacologic treatment of hairy cell leukemia (HCL). Since 1990 purine analogs replaced IFNalpha because of higher rates of complete remission and an invariable disease recurrence after cessation of IFNalpha. However, there are only limited data about long-term maintenance treatment with IFNalpha and none about dose finding in this phase. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Fifty-two consecutive patients treated at our institution for HCL are included in this retrospective analysis. Forty (77%) patients received IFNalpha and 35 patients continue on long-term IFNalpha maintenance therapy. The initial dose of IFNalpha was 3 Mio IU three times per week and was tapered 6 months after initiation to doses as low as 3 Mio IU/12 wk. Dose adaptation was performed by repeated measurement of soluble Interleukin 2 receptor (sIL2R) together with peripheral blood values. RESULTS: The median follow-up of patients in the long-term IFNalpha group was 13.6 +/- 7.5 yr. Long-term IFNalpha was in general well tolerated and only in six (17%) patients the treatment had to be changed to purine analogs in the long-term IFNalpha group because of side effects. There are no deaths directly related to HCL. CONCLUSIONS: IFNalpha is still an effective and well tolerated therapeutic option. By repeated measurements of sIL2R together with the peripheral blood values, IFNalpha doses can be tapered to the minimal effective dose. The advantages and disadvantage of IFNalpha in regards to the standard treatment in HCL patients are discussed.

Mitral valve surgery in severe congenital factor VII deficiency.

The estimated incidence of congenital factor VII deficiency is 1:500 000. Severe FVII deficiency is associated with spontaneous bleeding such as intraarticular or intracranial haemorrhage. The risk of perioperative bleeding is high during cardiac surgery as a result of the exposure to extracorporeal circulation, systemic anticoagulation, loss of coagulation factors, and postoperative platelet malfunction. Effective treatment of pre-existing coagulopathy is crucial, as increased morbidity and mortality are associated with allogenic blood transfusions. We report a 67-year-old Caucasian male patient with severe congenital FVII deficiency, undergoing successful and uneventful elective mitral valve repair surgery, radiofrequency epicardial atrial fibrillation ablation, and exclusion of the left atrial appendage. He presented with severe symptomatic mitral valve regurgitation, moderate pulmonary artery hypertension, and paroxysmal atrial fibrillation; his left ventricular ejection fraction was 67%. Three years before surgery, during a routine assessment of a grade I renal failure, a spontaneous International Normalised Ratio of 4.1 was observed. He had no history of previous spontaneous bleeding. The diagnosis of a severe FVII deficiency, with an FVII activity below 2% (normal references values in City Hospital Triemli Zurich: 55-170%) was made.

Validation of prognostic factors and survival of patients with multiple myeloma in a real-life autologous stem cell transplantation setting: a Swiss single centre experience.

PRINCIPLES: High-dose chemotherapy with subsequent autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) is an important treatment option in younger patients with multiple myeloma (MM). We analysed the outcome of patients treated at our institution outside the clinical trials framework and tried to identify risk factors prognostic for survival. METHODS: Medical histories of the patients were screened for response, event-free survival (EFS) and overall survival (OS). Pre-transplant variables were analysed to identify possible prognostic risk factors. RESULTS: Overall, 182 ASCT were performed in 120 patients with MM from 2002 to 2007. Treatment-related mortality (TRM) was 0.5%. Median EFS was 23.1 months (95% confidence interval [CI]: 19.4-28.4) and median OS was 49.8 months (95%CI: 43.7 - not reached) in the whole patient population. The median OS in patients who received one ASCT was 46.4 months (95%CI: 35.2 - not reached), and 63.7 months (95%CI: 48.9 - not reached) in patients who underwent double ASCT. Patients who already achieved a complete remission (CR) before ASCT had a longer EFS (p = 0.016) than patients without CR. Additionally, patients who achieved a CR after ASCT had a longer EFS (p = 0.0061) and OS (p = 0.0024) than patients without CR. ISS stage