Results of CHOP chemotherapy for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

Patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma treated in a University Hospital were studied from 1990 to 2001. Two treatment regimens were used: ProMACE-CytaBOM and then, from November 1996 on, the CHOP regimen. Complete remission (CR), disease-free survival (DFS), and overall survival (OS) rates were determined. Primary refractory patients and relapsed patients were also assessed. A total of 111 patients under 60 years of age were assessed and ranked according to the international prognostic index adjusted to age. Twenty (18 percent) of them were classified as low risk, 40 (36 percent) as intermediate risk, 33 (29.7 percent) as high intermediate risk, and 18 (16.3 percent) as high risk. Over a five-year period, OS and DFS rates were 71 and 59 percent, respectively, for all patients. For the same time period, OS and DFS rates were 72.8 and 61.3 percent, respectively, for 77 patients treated with CHOP chemotherapy and 71.3 and 60 percent for patients treated with the ProMACE-CytaBOM protocol. There was no significant difference in OS or DFS between the two groups. Eleven of 50 refractory and relapsed patients were consolidated with high doses of chemotherapy. Three received allogenic and 8 autologous bone marrow transplantation. For the latter, CR was 62.5 percent and mean OS was 41.1 months. The clinical behavior, CR, DFS, and OS of the present patients were similar to those reported in the literature. We conclude that both the CHOP and ProMACE-CytaBOM protocols can be used to treat diffuse large B-cell lymphoma patients, although the CHOP protocol is preferable because of its lower cost and lower toxicity.

Increased plasma removal of microemulsions resembling the lipid phase of low-density lipoproteins (LDL) in patients with acute myeloid leukemia: a possible new strategy for the treatment of the disease

A microemulsion of lipid composition resembling low-density lipoprotein (LDL), but devoid of apolipoproteins and labeled with [14C]-cholesteryl oleate was injected into 16 healthy subjects and into 15 patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Removal from plasma of the lipid label was higher in the leukemic group compared to healthy subjects in terms of fractional clearance rate (0.185 +/- 0.205 and 0.080 +/- 0.030 h-1, respectively, P < 0.03). When the emulsion was again injected into 10 of the AML patients after complete hematological remission, the fractional clearance rate of cholesteryl ester was reduced to one third of the value observed prior to treatment (0.061 +/- 0.038 h-1) and was not different from that obtained for the healthy subjects. Also, in untreated AML patients, serum LDL-cholesterol levels inversely correlated with the values of fractional clearance rate of the microemulsion. This correlation was no longer observed after treatment. These data suggest that the LDL-like microemulsion was selectively taken up by the neoplastic cells presumably by interaction with LDL receptors. Therefore, microemulsions may function as potential carriers for anticancer drugs that are targeted to tumor cells for patients with acute myeloid leukemia. Unlike native LDL, microemulsions are suitable for utilization in routine clinical practice