ABSTRACT
The role of Ann Arbor staging in determining treatment intensity after achieving a negative positron emission tomography (PET) has not been established in classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL). Patients with stage I-IV cHL, received three cycles of ABVD (doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, dacarbazine) and an interim PET scan (PET3). PET3-negative patients received no further therapy. PET3-positive patients received three additional cycles of ABVD plus involved-field radiation therapy or salvage chemotherapy, if refractory to ABVD, and were re-evaluated by PET scan (PET6). Study endpoints were 3-year progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) rates. Two hundred and thirty-nine patients with early-stage and 138 with advanced-stage were evaluable. Overall, 260 patients (70%) were PET3-negative and had higher 3-year PFS (90% vs. 65%; P < 0·0001) and OS (98% vs. 92%; P = 0·007) rates than PET3-positive patients. All PET3-negative patients, regardless of disease stage at diagnosis, achieved similarly good PFS (90-91%; P = 0·76) and OS (97-99%). The only independent prognostic factor for PFS was PET3-negativity (Hazard ratio 3·8; 95% confidence interval 2·4-6·3; P < 0·0001). This study suggests that cHL patients who achieve a negative PET3 following ABVD have an excellent outcome, regardless of stage at diagnosis. An appropriately powered, phase III trial will be necessary to confirm these findings.
Subject(s)
Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols/therapeutic use , Hodgkin Disease/diagnostic imaging , Hodgkin Disease/drug therapy , Positron-Emission Tomography/methods , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols/pharmacology , Bleomycin/pharmacology , Bleomycin/therapeutic use , Dacarbazine/pharmacology , Dacarbazine/therapeutic use , Doxorubicin/pharmacology , Doxorubicin/therapeutic use , Female , Hodgkin Disease/pathology , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Prospective Studies , Survival Analysis , Vinblastine/pharmacology , Vinblastine/therapeutic use , Young AdultABSTRACT
The management of pregnant women with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) is a challenge with limited evidence-based information available. We are reporting a series of 14 consecutive pregnant women with APL who were registered in the PETHEMA Data Centre between 1996 and 2012. APL was diagnosed during early pregnancy in five women, late pregnancy in seven, and two additional patients after delivery in an extremely poor clinical condition (pulmonary and cerebral hemorrhage). Eleven of the 12 patients eligible for induction therapy with all-trans retinoic acid and idarubicin achieved complete remission (CR 92 %) and are still in the first CR. All early pregnancies ended in abortion (four induced and one spontaneous), with four of them achieving CR. Eight of nine women in late pregnancy delivered a healthy infant (six cesarean section and two vaginal delivery). All eight babies developed normally. Our results confirm a high cure rate for pregnant women with APL who received all-trans retinoic acid and idarubicin for induction therapy, and an excellent outcome for babies when the disease is diagnosed during late pregnancy.
