Outcomes in Refractory Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma: Results from Two Prospective Korean Cohorts / Journal of the Korean Cancer Association, 대한암학회지

Purpose@#Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is the most common hematologic malignancy worldwide. Although substantial improvement has been achieved by the frontline rituximab-based chemoimmunotherapy, up to 40%-50% of patients will eventually have relapsed or refractory disease, whose prognosis is extremely dismal. @*Materials and Methods@#We have carried out two prospective cohort studies that include over 1,500 DLBCL patients treated with rituximab plus CHOP (#NCT01202448 and #NCT02474550). In the current report, we describe the outcomes of refractory DLBCL patients. Patients were defined to have refractory DLBCL if they met one of the followings, not achieving at least partial response after 4 or more cycles of R-CHOP; not achieving at least partial response after 2 or more cycles of salvage therapy; progressive disease within 12 months after autologous stem cell transplantation. @*Results@#Among 1,581 patients, a total of 260 patients met the criteria for the refractory disease after a median time to progression of 9.1 months. The objective response rate of salvage treatment was 26.4%, and the complete response rate was 9.6%. The median overall survival (OS) was 7.5 months (95% confidence interval, 6.4 to 8.6), and the 2-year survival rate was 22.1%±2.8%. The median OS for each refractory category was not significantly different (p=0.529). @*Conclusion@#In line with the previous studies, the outcomes of refractory DLBCL patients were extremely poor, which necessitates novel approaches for this population.

Rituximab plus multiagent chemotherapy for newly diagnosed CD20-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia: a prospective phase II study

Background/Aims@#We performed a prospective study to determine the efficacy and safety of rituximab including chemotherapy in CD20-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). @*Methods@#Patients with newly diagnosed ALL, aged ≥ 15 years, were eligible for the study if their leukemic blast cells in bone marrow expressed CD20 ≥ 20% at the time of diagnosis. Patients received multiagent chemotherapy with rituximab. After achieving complete remission (CR), patients received five cycles of consolidation with concomitant rituximab. Rituximab was administered monthly from day 90 of transplantation for patients who received allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation. @*Results@#In patients with Philadelphia (Ph)-negative ALL, 39 of 41 achieved CR (95.1%), the 2- and 4-year relapse-free survival (RFS) rates were 50.4% and 35.7%, and the 2- and 4-year overall survival (OS) rates were 51.5% and 43.2%, respectively. In the group with Ph-positive ALL, all 32 patients achieved CR, the 2- and 4-year RFS rates were 60.7% and 52.1%, and the 2- and 4-year OS rates were 73.3% and 52.3%, respectively. In the Ph-negative ALL group, patients with higher CD20 positivity experienced more favorable RFS (p < 0.001) and OS (p = 0.06) than those with lower CD20 positivity. Patients who received ≥ 2 cycles of rituximab after transplantation had significantly improved RFS (hazard ratio [HR], 0.31; p = 0.049) and OS (HR, 0.29; p = 0.021) compared with those who received < 2 cycles. @*Conclusions@#The addition of rituximab to conventional chemotherapy for CD20-positive ALL is effective and tolerable (Clinicaltrials. gov NCT01429610).

Safety and efficacy of nilotinib in adult patients with chronic myeloid leukemia: a post-marketing surveillance study in Korea

Background@#Nilotinib is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor approved by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety for frontline and 2nd line treatment of Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia (Ph+ CML). This study aimed to confirm the safety and efficacy of nilotinib in routine clinical practice within South Korea. @*Methods@#An open-label, multicenter, single-arm, 12-week observational post-marketing surveillance (PMS) study was conducted on 669 Korean adult patients with Ph + CML from December 24, 2010, to December 23, 2016. The patients received nilotinib treatment in routine clinical practice settings. Safety was evaluated by all types of adverse events (AEs) during the study period, and efficacy was evaluated by the complete hematological response (CHR) and cytogenetic response. @*Results@#During the study period, AEs occurred in 61.3% (410 patients, 973 events), adverse drug reactions (ADRs) in 40.5% (271/669 patients, 559 events), serious AEs in 4.5% (30 patients, 37 events), and serious ADRs in 0.7% (5 patients, 8 events). Furthermore, unexpected AEs occurred at a rate of 6.9% (46 patients, 55 events) and unexpected ADRs at 1.2% (8 patients, 8 events). As for the efficacy results, CHR was achieved in 89.5% (442/494 patients), and minor cytogenetic response or major cytogenetic response was achieved in 85.8% (139/162 patients). @*Conclusion@#This PMS study shows consistent results in terms of safety and efficacy compared with previous studies. Nilotinib was well tolerated and efficacious in adult Korean patients with Ph + CML in routine clinical practice settings.

Influence of creatinine levels on survival in patients with veno-occlusive disease treated with defibrotide

Background/Aims@#Veno-occlusive disease/sinusoidal obstruction syndrome (VOD/SOS) is one of the most fatal complications of hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT), and defibrotide is the only curative drug. We conducted this study to confirm the survival rate of VOD/SOS patients diagnosed in Korea and assess the efficacy of defibrotide. @*Methods@#Patients diagnosed with VOD/SOS after allogenic HCT between 2003 and 2020 were enrolled. We investigated day +100 survival rates and associated risk factors in patients who satisfied the modified Seattle criteria within 50 days of HCT. @*Results@#A total of 110 patients satisfied the modified Seattle criteria, of which 65.5% satisfied the Baltimore criteria. Thirty-seven patients were treated with defibrotide. The day +100 survival rate of the 110 patients was 65.3%. The survival rates in patients who did not meet the Baltimore criteria and in those who did were 86.8% and 53.7%, respectively (p = 0.001). The day +100 survival rate of patients treated with defibrotide was 50.5%. Among the patients receiving defibrotide, those whose creatinine levels were more than 1.2 times the baseline had a significantly lower survival rate at 26.7% (p = 0.014). On multivariate regression analysis, the hazard ratio of satisfaction of the Baltimore criteria was 4.54 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.69 to 12.21; p = 0.003). In patients treated with defibrotide, the hazard ratio was 8.70 (95% CI, 2.26 to 33.45; p = 0.002), when creatinine was more than 1.2 times the baseline on administration. @*Conclusions@#The day +100 survival rate was significantly lower when the Baltimore criteria were satisfied, and when there was an increase in creatinine at the time of defibrotide administration.

How to conduct well-designed clinical research / 고신대학교의과대학학술지

Clinicians and healthcare decision-makers conduct their clinical practice based on the results of clinical trials. However, some health problems remain unresolved; in such cases, further research is required. To ensure reliable research results, it is important to understand the study design and conduct well-designed clinical trials. Many study designs can be chosen within the two broad categories of observational and interventional. Clinical studies have a variety of designs, including case series, case-control, cross-sectional, and prospective and retrospective cohort studies. Well-designed clinical studies can clarify important differences between treatment options and provide data on long-term drug efficacy and safety. Interpreting the results of clinical trials can be difficult because weaknesses in research design, data collection methods, analytic methods, and reporting can compromise their value and usefulness. However, although randomized controlled trials are limited owing to ethical and practical issues, they are optimal for investigating the effects of therapy and establishing causality. Here we present an overview of different clinical research designs and review their advantages and limitations.

Clinical impact of anti-thymocyte globulin on survival and graft-versus-host disease in patients undergoing human leukocyte antigen mismatched allogeneic stem cell transplantation

Background/Aims@#Rabbit anti-thymocyte globulin (ATG) is usually incorporated in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) to reduce the incidence of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). This study aimed to find optimal ATG doses in patients undergoing human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-mismatched allogeneic HSCT. @*Methods@#We retrospectively collected medical records from 352 consecutive patients with acute myeloid leukemia (n = 214), acute lymphoblastic leukemia (n = 62), or myelodysplastic syndrome (n = 76) in eight centers of Korea between 2005 and 2015. All patients received busulfan-based conditioning without total body irradiation (TBI) and received stem cells from HLA-mismatched donors. @*Results@#In the current study, 5-year overall survival rates of patients receiving low to medium doses of ATG (2.5 to 7.5 mg/kg) were higher than those receiving other doses of ATG (hazard ratio [HR], 0.528; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.311 to 0.897; p = 0.018). The incidence rates of extensive chronic GVHD (ecGVHD) after administration of low to medium doses of ATG were lower than those after other doses of ATG (HR, 0.447; 95% CI, 0.224 ton 0.889; p = 0.022). @*Conclusions@#The low to medium doses of ATG may be associated with improving survival outcomes and reducing incidence of ecGVHD without enhancing the chances of relapse in patients with acute leukemia or myelodysplastic syndrome undergoing non-TBI-based HLA-mismatched allogeneic HSCT.

First case report of latent tuberculosis reactivation complicating treatment with nilotinib in chronic myeloid leukemia

No abstract available.

Chemotherapy adherence is a favorable prognostic factor for elderly patients with multiple myeloma who are treated with a frontline bortezomib-containing regimen / 영남의대학술지

BACKGROUND: Elderly patients with multiple myeloma (MM) are vulnerable to adverse events (AEs). This study evaluated adherence to chemotherapy and treatment outcomes in elderly patients treated with a frontline bortezomib (BTZ), melphalan, and prednisone (VMP) regimen and regimens without BTZ.METHODS: One-hundred and forty elderly patients who were diagnosed with MM from March 2007 to March 2015 were included in this retrospective study. To evaluate regimen adherence, patients who were treated with more than 4 cycles were assigned to the good adherence group.RESULTS: Among the 140 patients, 71 were treated with a frontline VMP and 69 with non-BTZ regimens. The median age was 71 years (range, 65-90 years). The VMP group showed a higher complete response rate than the non-BTZ group: 26.8% vs. 7.2%. More patients in the VMP group achieved ≥ very good partial response (VGPR) and ≥ PR. In the VMP group, 27 patients (38.0%) received less than 4 cycles. The VMP good adherence group showed a higher 3-year overall survival (OS) rate (70.9%) than the poor adherence group (60.2%, p=0.059). In the multivariate analysis, treatment with ≥ 4 cycles of VMP was a favorable factor for OS.CONCLUSION: A good adherence to a frontline VMP regimen resulted in favorable long-term survival. Adequate management of AEs will be needed to achieve favorable outcomes in elderly patients with MM.

No benefit of hypomethylating agents compared to supportive care for higher risk myelodysplastic syndrome

BACKGROUND/AIMS: This study evaluated the role of hypomethylating agents (HMA) compared to best supportive care (BSC) for patients with high or very-high (H/VH) risk myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) according to the Revised International Prognostic Scoring System. METHODS: A total of 279 H/VH risk MDS patients registered in the Korean MDS Working Party database were retrospectively analyzed. RESULTS: HMA therapy was administered to 205 patients (73.5%), including 31 patients (11.1%) who then received allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT), while 74 patients (26.5%) received BSC or allo-HCT without HMA. The 3-year overall survival (OS) rates were 53.1% ± 10.7% for allo-HCT with HMA, 75% ± 21.7% for allo-HCT without HMA, 17.3% ± 3.6% for HMA, and 20.8% ± 6.9% for BSC groups (p < 0.001). In the multivariate analysis, only allo-HCT was related with favorable OS (hazard ratio [HR], 0.356; p = 0.002), while very poor cytogenetic risk (HR, 5.696; p = 0.042), age ≥ 65 years (HR, 1.578; p = 0.022), Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (ECOG PS) 2 to 4 (HR, 2.837; p < 0.001), and transformation to acute myeloid leukemia (AML) (HR, 1.901; p = 0.001) all had an adverse effect on OS. CONCLUSIONS: For the H/VH risk group, very poor cytogenetic risk, age ≥ 65 years, ECOG PS 2 to 4, and AML transformation were poor prognostic factors. HMA showed no benefit in terms of OS when compared to BSC. Allo-HCT was the only factor predicting a favorable long-term outcome. The use of HMA therapy did not seem to have an adverse effect on the transplantation outcomes. However, the conclusion of this study should be carefully interpreted and proven by large scale research in the future.

Chemotherapy adherence is a favorable prognostic factor for elderly patients with multiple myeloma who are treated with a frontline bortezomib-containing regimen / 영남의대학술지

BACKGROUND@#Elderly patients with multiple myeloma (MM) are vulnerable to adverse events (AEs). This study evaluated adherence to chemotherapy and treatment outcomes in elderly patients treated with a frontline bortezomib (BTZ), melphalan, and prednisone (VMP) regimen and regimens without BTZ.@*METHODS@#One-hundred and forty elderly patients who were diagnosed with MM from March 2007 to March 2015 were included in this retrospective study. To evaluate regimen adherence, patients who were treated with more than 4 cycles were assigned to the good adherence group.@*RESULTS@#Among the 140 patients, 71 were treated with a frontline VMP and 69 with non-BTZ regimens. The median age was 71 years (range, 65-90 years). The VMP group showed a higher complete response rate than the non-BTZ group: 26.8% vs. 7.2%. More patients in the VMP group achieved ≥ very good partial response (VGPR) and ≥ PR. In the VMP group, 27 patients (38.0%) received less than 4 cycles. The VMP good adherence group showed a higher 3-year overall survival (OS) rate (70.9%) than the poor adherence group (60.2%, p=0.059). In the multivariate analysis, treatment with ≥ 4 cycles of VMP was a favorable factor for OS.@*CONCLUSION@#A good adherence to a frontline VMP regimen resulted in favorable long-term survival. Adequate management of AEs will be needed to achieve favorable outcomes in elderly patients with MM.

Platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR) retains independent prognostic significance in advanced stage marginal zone lymphoma patients treated with rituximab, cyclophosphamide, vincristine, and prednisone combination chemotherapy (R-CVP): Consortium for Improvi

BACKGROUND: Rituximab plus cyclophosphamide, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CVP) is one of the effective chemotherapeutic regimens for patients with advanced stage marginal zone lymphoma (MZL). However, prognostic factors that affect the outcome of treatment for MZL are not well understood. METHODS: Between August 2006 and June 2013, patients with newly diagnosed stage III and IV MZL treated with R-CVP as a first-line therapy from 15 institutions were retrospectively analyzed. Patients' clinical and laboratory data at diagnosis were collected by review of medical records. RESULTS: A total of 80 patients were analyzed. Bone marrow involvement was observed in 30% cases. Twelve patients (15%) had nodal MZL, and 41.3% patients exhibited multiple mucosa-associated lymphoma tissue sites. Overall response rate was 91.3%, including 73.8% achieving complete response. Advanced MZL patients treated with R-CVP showed a 3-year progression-free survival (PFS) rate of 69.6%. Prognostic markers significantly affecting PFS in univariate analysis were platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR, 3.9 g/dL, P=0.008), and the International Prognostic Index (IPI) score (1 vs. 2–4, P=0.032). In multivariate analysis, only PLR (<95 vs. ≥95, HR 0.367, 95% CI, 0.139–0.971, P=0.043) was an independent risk factor for PFS. CONCLUSION: PLR ≥95 at diagnosis is an independent prognostic marker for PFS in advanced stage MZL patients treated with R-CVP. This marker may aid clinicians in predicting the response to R-CVP chemotherapy in stage III and IV MZL patients.

Retrospective analysis on the clinical efficacy of bevacizumab combined with FOLFOX4 in the first line treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer / 고신대학교의과대학학술지

OBJECTIVES: The addition of bevacizumab to standard chemotherapy has been improved survival outcomes in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. However, the combination of bevacizumab with oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy as first-line treatment showed limited survival benefit. The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical efficacy and toxicity of the combination of bevacizumab to oxaliplatin and leucovorin (FOLFOX4) in the first-line treatment of patient with metastatic colorectal cancer. METHODS: Between December 2004 and September 2009, medical records of patients who were diagnosed with metastatic colorectal cancer and received the first line chemotherapy with bevacizumab and FOLFOX4, were retrospectively reviewed. RESULTS: A total of forty patients were analyzed. The median age of the patients was 55 years (range, 33–80), and 55% was male. The patients received a total of 206 cycles of therapy (median 4 cycles per patient; range 1 – 15 cycles). Of these 40 patients, none achieved complete response (CR) and 15 achieved a partial response (PR), for the overall response rate (ORR) 37.5% (95% CI, 22.5–52.5). Median progression free survival (PFS) was 6.9 months (95% CI, 3.4–10.5) and median overall survival (OS) was 22.6 months (95% CI, 17.3–27.8The most common grade 3 or 4 hematologic toxicity and non-hematologic toxicity were neutropenia (10.0%) and diarrhea (10.0%), respectively. Two patients experienced gastrointestinal perforation. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, the combination bevacizumab with FOLFOX4 was associated with favorable OS, but did not showed favorable PFS and ORR.

Optimal maintenance and consolidation therapy for multiple myeloma in actual clinical practice

Multiple myeloma is an incurable malignant plasma cell-originating cancer. Although its treatment outcomes have improved with the use of glucocorticoids, alkylating drugs, and novel agents, including proteasome inhibitors (bortezomib and carfilzomib) and immunomodulatory drugs (thalidomide, lenalidomide, and pomalidomide), relapse remains a serious problem. Strategies to improve outcomes following autologous stem cell transplantation and frontline treatments in non-transplant patients include consolidation to intensify therapy and improve the depth of response and maintenance therapy to achieve long-term disease control. Many clinical trials have reported increased progression-free and overall survival rates after consolidation and maintenance therapy. The role of consolidation/maintenance therapy has been assessed in patients eligible and ineligible for transplantation and is a valuable option in clinical trial settings. However, the decision to use consolidation and/or maintenance therapy needs to be guided by the individual patient situation in actual clinical practice. This review analyzes the currently available evidence from several reported clinical trials to determine the optimal consolidation and maintenance therapy in clinical practice.

Prognostic Significance of Neutrophil Lymphocyte Ratio and Platelet Lymphocyte Ratio in Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma Patients Treated with R-CHOP / 고신대학교의과대학학술지

OBJECTIVES: The both values of neutrophil lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet lymphocyte ratio (PLR) were reported as indexes of systemic inflammation and readily available and inexpensive prognostic markers in patients with solid cancer. The objective of this study was to clarify whether the NLR and PLR were significant prognostic markers in Korean diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) patients treated with R-CHOP as a first line therapy. METHODS: We retrospectively collected the clinical data of ninety nine DLBCL patients treated with R-CHOP from 2004 to 2012 and analyzed. NLR and PLR were calculated from complete blood count (CBC) and differential leukocyte count. RESULTS: In univariate analysis, NLR was significantly associated with 5-year progression free survival(PFS) rate (P= 0.039), but not significantly associated with 5-year overal survival (OS) rate (P= 0.276). PLR was not significantly associated with 5-year PFS (P= 0.632) and OS rate (P= 0.855). In multivariate analysis, NLR was not a significant independent prognostic factor for 5-year PFS (P= 0.415) and OS rate (P= 0.991). CONCLUSION: The NLR can be considered a useful predictor of survival outcome. The PLR is not a valid predictor of survival outcome.

Prediction of survival by applying current prognostic models in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma treated with R-CHOP followed by autologous transplantation

BACKGROUND: Among the currently available prognostic models for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), we investigated to determine which is most adoptable for DLBCL patients treated with rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CHOP) followed by upfront autologous stem cell transplantation (auto-SCT). METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated survival differences among risk groups based on the International Prognostic Index (IPI), the age-adjusted IPI (aaIPI), the revised IPI (R-IPI), and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network IPI (NCCN-IPI) at diagnosis in 63 CD20-positive DLBCL patients treated with R-CHOP followed by upfront auto-SCT. RESULTS: At the time of auto-SCT, 74.6% and 25.4% of patients had achieved complete remission and partial remission after R-CHOP, respectively. As a whole, the 5-year overall (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) rates were 78.8% and 74.2%, respectively. The 5-year OS and PFS rates according to the IPI, aaIPI, R-IPI, and NCCN-IPI did not significantly differ among the risk groups for each prognostic model (P-values for OS: 0.255, 0.337, 0.881, and 0.803, respectively; P-values for PFS: 0.177, 0.904, 0.295, and 0.609, respectively). CONCLUSION: There was no ideal prognostic model among those currently available for CD20-positive DLBCL patients treated with R-CHOP followed by upfront auto-SCT.

Treatment Outcomes of Rituximab Plus Hyper-CVAD in Korean Patients with Sporadic Burkitt or Burkitt-like Lymphoma: Results of a Multicenter Analysis / Journal of the Korean Cancer Association, 대한암학회지

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to evaluate outcomes in adult patients with Burkitt lymphoma (BL) or Burkitt-like lymphoma treated with an rituximab plus hyper-CVAD (R-hyper-CVAD) regimen by focusing on tolerability and actual delivered relative dose intensity (RDI). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients > or = 20 years of age and pathologically diagnosed with BL or Burkitt-like lymphoma were treated with at least one cycle of R-hyper-CVAD as the first-line treatment in this study. Eligible patients' case report forms were requested from their physicians to obtain clinical and laboratory data for this retrospective study. RESULTS: Forty-three patients (median age, 51 years) from 14 medical centers in Korea were analyzed, none of which were infected with human immunodeficiency virus. The majority of patients had advanced diseases, and 24 patients achieved a complete response (75.0%). After a median follow-up period of 20.0 months, 2-year event-free and overall survival rates were 70.9% and 81.4%, respectively. Eleven patients (25.6%) were unable to complete the R-hyper-CVAD regimen, including six patients due to early death. The RDIs of adriamycin, vincristine, methotrexate, and cytarabine were between 60% and 65%, which means less than 25% of patients received greater than 80% of the planned dose of each drug. Poor performance status was related to the lower RDIs of doxorubicin and methotrexate. CONCLUSION: R-hyper-CVAD showed excellent treatment outcomes in patients who were suitable for dose-intense chemotherapy. However, management of patients who are intolerant to a dose-intense regimen remains problematic due to the frequent occurrence of treatmentrelated complications.

Therapeutic comparison of Surgery combined with chemotherapy and chemotherapy alone for Primary Gastrointestinal Lymphoma: A single center study / 고신대학교의과대학학술지

OBJECTIVES: There is still no consensus on the optimal treatment for primary gastrointestinal lymphoma (PGIL). The aim of this study was to compare surgery combined with chemotherapy and chemotherapy alone in PGIL. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed and analyzed the treatment outcomes of 107 patients with primary gastrointestinal lymphoma diagnosed between March 1999 and December 2009 at Kosin University Gospel Hospital. Patients were divided into two groups: 35 patients who underwent surgery combined with chemotherapy (group A) and 72 patients who were treated with chemotherapy alone (group B). And we analyzed prognostic factors associated with short survival. RESULTS: The 5-year progression free survival rates (PFS) of group A and B were 86.7% and 66.1%, respectively (P = 0.037), while the 5-year overall survival rates (OS) were 86.8% and 68.4%, respectively (P = 0.129). In multivariate analysis, Both PFS and OS were not changed by treatment strategies (surgery combined with chemotherapy or chemotherapy only). The international prognostic index (IPI) was the only independent predictive factor for PFS. CONCLUSIONS: In our study, surgery combined with chemotherapy and chemotherapy only make no difference of survival rate. And further randomized prospective studies are needed to confirm a treatment strategies at improving survival outcomes in PGIL patients.

The prognostic impact of inflammatory factors in patients with multiple myeloma treated with thalidomide in Korea

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The purpose of this study was to determine the correlations between inflammatory factors-including absolute lymphocyte count, lactate dehydrogenase, beta2-microglobulin, albumin, C-reactive protein, and ferritin-and the prognosis for survival in patients with multiple myeloma (MM) treated with induction chemotherapy containing thalidomide and who underwent autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT). METHODS: Data from patients at 13 university hospitals in South Korea were collected retrospectively between December 2005 and May 2013. RESULTS: The median age of the 232 patients was 57 years (range, 33 to 77) and the male to female ratio was 1.09:1. In the multivariate analysis, fewer than two combined abnormal inflammatory factors was the only independent prognostic factor for superior progression-free survival (relative risk [RR], 0.618; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.409 to 0.933; p = 0.022), and platelet count > 100 x 109/L and fewer than two combined abnormal inflammatory factors were independent prognostic factors for superior overall survival (RR, 4.739; 95% CI, 1.897 to 11.839; p = 0.001 and RR, 0.263; 95% CI, 0.113 to 0.612; p = 0.002, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with two or more than two combined inflammatory factors who were treated with thalidomide induction chemotherapy and who underwent ASCT showed significantly shorter survival compared to those with fewer than two combined inflammatory factors. These results could be helpful for predicting prognosis in patients with MM.

Clinical features and treatment outcomes in patients with mantle cell lymphoma in Korea: Study by the Consortium for Improving Survival of Lymphoma

BACKGROUND: We investigated the clinical features and treatment outcomes of patients with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) in Korea. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the clinical characteristics and prognosis of 131 patients diagnosed with MCL between January 2004 and December 2009 at 15 medical centers in Korea; all patients received at least 1 chemotherapeutic regimen for MCL. RESULTS: The median age for the patients was 63 years (range, 26-78 years), and 77.9% were men. A total of 105 patients (80.1%) had stage III or IV MCL at diagnosis. Fifty-two patients (39.7%) were categorized with high- or high-intermediate risk MCL according to the International Prognostic Index (IPI). Eighteen patients (13.7%) were in the high-risk group according to the simplified MCL-IPI (MIPI). The overall incidence of extranodal involvement was 69.5%. The overall incidence of bone marrow and gastrointestinal involvements at diagnosis was 41.2% and 35.1%, respectively. Cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, prednisolone, and rituximab were used frequently as the first-line treatment (41.2%). With a median follow-up duration of 20.0 months (range, 0.2-77.0 months), the overall survival (OS) at 2 years was 64.7%, while the event-free survival (EFS) was 39.7%. Multivariate analysis showed that the simplified MIPI was significantly associated with OS. However, the use of a rituximab-containing regimen was not associated with OS and EFS. CONCLUSION: Similar to results from Western countries, the current study found that simplified MIPI was an important prognostic factor in Korean patients with MCL.

R-CHOP chemoimmunotherapy followed by autologous transplantation for the treatment of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

BACKGROUND: We investigated factors that influence outcomes in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) patients treated with rituximab combined with the CHOP regimen (R-CHOP) followed by upfront autologous stem cell transplantation (Auto-SCT). METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated survival differences between subgroups based on the age-adjusted International Prognostic Index (aaIPI) and revised-IPI (R-IPI) at diagnosis, disease status, and positron emission tomographic/computerized tomographic (PET/CT) status at transplantation in 51 CD20-positive DLBCL patients treated with R-CHOP followed by upfront Auto-SCT. RESULTS: Patients had either stage I/II bulky disease (5.9%) or stage III/IV disease (94.1%). The median patient age at diagnosis was 47 years (range, 22-66 years); 53.3% and 26.7% had high-intermediate and high risks according to aaIPI, respectively. At the time of Auto-SCT, 72.5% and 27.5% experienced complete (CR) and partial remission (PR) after R-CHOP, respectively. The median time from diagnosis to Auto-SCT was 7.27 months (range, 3.4-13.4 months). The 5-year overall (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were 77.3% and 72.4%, respectively. The 5-year OS and PFS rates according to aaIPI, R-IPI, and PET/CT status did not differ between the subgroups. More importantly, the 5-year OS and PFS rates of the patients who achieved PR at the time of Auto-SCT were not inferior to those of the patients who achieved CR (P=0.223 and 0.292, respectively). CONCLUSION: Survival was not influenced by the aaIPI and R-IPI at diagnosis, disease status, or PET/CT status at transplantation, suggesting that upfront Auto-SCT might overcome unfavorable outcomes attributed to PR after induction chemoimmunotherapy.