Tolerability-adapted imatinib 800 mg/d versus 400 mg/d versus 400 mg/d plus interferon-α in newly diagnosed chronic myeloid leukemia.

PURPOSE: Treatment of chronic-phase (CP) chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) with imatinib 400 mg/d can be unsatisfactory. Optimization of treatment is warranted. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In all, 1,014 newly diagnosed CP-CML patients were randomly assigned to imatinib 800 mg/d (n = 338), imatinib 400 mg/d (n = 325), or imatinib 400 mg/d plus interferon alfa (IFN-α; n = 351). Dose adaptation to avoid higher-grade toxicity was recommended. First primary end point was major molecular remission (MMR) at 12 months. RESULTS: A higher rate of MMR at 12 months occurred with tolerability-adapted imatinib 800 mg/d than with imatinib 400 mg/d (59% [95% CI, 53% to 65%] v 44% [95% CI, 37% to 50%]; P < .001) or imatinib 400 mg/d plus IFN-α (59% v 46% [95% CI, 40% to 52%]; P = .002). Median dose in the 800-mg/d arm was 628 mg/d with a maximum dose of 737 mg/d during months 4 to 6 and a maintenance dose of 600 mg/d. All three treatment approaches were well tolerated with similar grade 3 and 4 adverse events. Independent of treatment approach, MMR at 12 months showed better progression-free survival (99% v 94%; P = .0023) and overall survival (99% v 93%; P = .0011) at 3 years when compared with > 1% on the international scale or no MMR but showed no difference in 0.1% to < 1% on the international scale, which closely correlates with complete cytogenetic remission. CONCLUSION: Treatment of early-phase CML with imatinib can be optimized. Early high-dose therapy followed by rapid adaptation to good tolerability increases the rate of MMR at 12 months. Achievement of MMR by month 12 is directly associated with improved survival.

Drug treatment is superior to allografting as first-line therapy in chronic myeloid leukemia.

Early allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) has been proposed as primary treatment modality for patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). This concept has been challenged by transplantation mortality and improved drug therapy. In a randomized study, primary HSCT and best available drug treatment (IFN based) were compared in newly diagnosed chronic phase CML patients. Assignment to treatment strategy was by genetic randomization according to availability of a matched related donor. Evaluation followed the intention-to-treat principle. Six hundred and twenty one patients with chronic phase CML were stratified for eligibility for HSCT. Three hundred and fifty four patients (62% male; median age, 40 years; range, 11-59 years) were eligible and randomized. One hundred and thirty five patients (38%) had a matched related donor, of whom 123 (91%) received a transplant within a median of 10 months (range, 2-106 months) from diagnosis. Two hundred and nineteen patients (62%) had no related donor and received best available drug treatment. With an observation time up to 11.2 years (median, 8.9 years), survival was superior for patients with drug treatment (P = .049), superiority being most pronounced in low-risk patients (P = .032). The general recommendation of HSCT as first-line treatment option in chronic phase CML can no longer be maintained. It should be replaced by a trial with modern drug treatment first.

Pharmacodynamics of two different dosing regimens of tirofiban in citrate or PPACK anticoagulated blood.

The primary objective of this study was to compare the inhibitory activity of tirofiban measured with the rapid platelet function assay (RPFA) and with light transmission aggregometry using two different anticoagulants (citrate versus PPACK). Twenty patients treated with tirofiban for percutaneous coronary intervention were studied at six time points during tirofiban treatment. Tirofiban was given with a bolus dose of 10 microg/kg and an infusion of 0.10 microg/kg per min (10 patients) or with a bolus dose of 15 microg/kg and an infusion of 0.15 microg/kg per min (10 patients). Inhibition of platelet function appeared highest using citrated blood and the RPFA-device and lowest when assessed by aggregometry in PPACK-anticoagulated blood. Only the higher dose of tirofiban achieved an inhibition of platelet aggregation of at least 80% in all test systems.

Dendritic cells fused with core binding factor-beta positive acute myeloid leukaemia blast cells induce activation of cytotoxic lymphocytes.

Several reports have described various strategies of dendritic cell (DC) vaccination to induce specific T-cell responses in patients with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). About 50-60% of AML cases blasts have chromosomal abnormalities, such as inv(16) or t(8,21), which could encode for leukaemia-specific antigenic peptide sequences, possibly presented in the context of self-major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules. As the co-culture of AML blasts with T lymphocytes seldom resulted in T-cell stimulation, we fused AML blasts with autologous DC to enhance this effect. The fusion cells expressed MHC class I and II, CD40, B7-1, B7-2, CD209 and several adhesion molecules. In a mixed lymphocyte hybrid reaction, the fusion cells induced the proliferation of autologous T cells. Moreover, in the special case of fusion cells established from AML blasts with the chromosomal abnormality inv(16), the autologous T lymphocytes could be primed to induce cytotoxicity against up to 70% autologous AML blasts in a effector:target ratio of 20:1. Blocking assays demonstrated that the lysis was chiefly mediated by CD8(+), CCR7(-) T lymphocytes, which could be further expanded in the form of effector memory CD8(+) T cells by repeated co-cultures with the autologous fusion cells.

Core-binding factor-beta positive acute myeloid leukaemia cells induce T-cell responses.

The addition of specific cytokines is a mandatory prerequisite for the generation and subsequent function of leukaemia-derived dendritic cells (DC) believed to induce specific T-cell responses. In this study, we report the ability of blasts derived from cytogenetically classified acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) cells with the inversion of chromosome 16 to stimulate allogeneic and autologous T cells without additional cytokines. They displayed a measurable immunogenic effect. Sixteen of 17 established, stable AML cell lines, growing primary tumour cells from patients with a variety of chromosomal abnormalities, altered their surface marker expression pattern in proliferating culture. They lost the progenitor markers CD33, CD13 and CD34 while significantly increasing expression of the co-stimulatory molecules CD80 and CD86. Four cell lines derived from inv(16) positive blasts mounted allogeneic as well as autologous T cell activation with concomitant expression of CD25 and CD69. Moreover, oligoclonal expanded T cells were able to lyse inv(16) AML blasts in a specific major histocompatibility complex class I-restricted and CD80-dependent manner. AML blasts with karyotypes other than inv(16) activated T cells, but without inducing a significant proliferation. We conclude from this study that AML blasts derived from inv(16) positive patients may be preferential targets for AML immunotherapy strategies.

Advances in the treatment of hairy-cell leukaemia.

Hairy-cell leukaemia (HCL) is an uncommon B-cell chronic lymphoproliferative disorder that accounts for about 2% of all leukaemias. Although the disease is generally indolent in its natural course, the majority of patients require treatment for life-threatening infections due to pancytopenia or symptomatic splenomegaly. During the past 20 years, remarkable progress has been made in the treatment of HCL. Since the introduction of interferon-alpha, splenectomy, which was formerly the standard therapy, has been rarely used. With the purine analogues cladribine and pentostatin, response rates are even better than with interferon-alpha and long-lasting remissions can be achieved in most patients. Therefore, these agents are now considered the treatment of choice. Recently, immunotherapeutic approaches which use monoclonal antibodies have increased the number of therapeutic options for HCL and offer promising salvage strategies for patients who relapse or who are refractory to treatment with purine analogues. In this review the different treatment options available are discussed and recommendations for the clinical management of the HCL are summarised.