Long-Term Treatment with Romidepsin in Patients with Peripheral T-Cell Lymphoma.

Peripheral T-cell lymphomas (PTCLs) are a heterogeneous group of aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphomas. Angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (AITL) is a common subtype of PTCL, and patients with AITL typically have a poor prognosis with limited treatment options. Clinical studies have demonstrated the activity of romidepsin, a structurally unique, potent, bicyclic class 1 selective histone deacetylase inhibitor, in patients with relapsed or refractory AITL. In the case presented herein, we describe a patient treated with single-agent romidepsin at first diagnosis of AITL, resulting in complete remission for over 2 years and leading to the use of maintenance dosing. The patient eventually underwent a successful autologous stem cell transplant. This case illustrates the successful use of romidepsin for the long-term treatment of a patient with AITL in a clinical setting. Maintenance dosing may be an option for patients who have an extended response to romidepsin in order to optimize outcomes and to prolong time to the next subsequent line of therapy. In our case, the patient was able to remain in complete remission for more than 1 year while receiving maintenance dosing of romidepsin.

Mutation Profiling of Lung Cancers with Long-Term Response to Gefitinib Therapy.

BACKGROUND: The role of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) in the treatment of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and unknown EGFR mutation status has recently been questioned. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We conducted a retrospective study of patients with unknown EGFR mutation status and long-term response (LTR) to gefitinib in the Swiss Iressa expanded access program (EAP). We assessed patient characteristics, and performed Sanger sequencing and next generation sequencing on archived tumor tissue. We hypothesized that EGFR mutations are prevalent in patients with LTR. RESULTS: Of 430 patients in the EAP, 18 (4%) fulfilled our definition of LTR, and 16 of them had archived tumor tissue. Patient characteristics were as expected for age, sex, and smoking history. Median duration of therapy was 38 months (range 24-142 months). Sanger sequencing revealed EGFR exon 18-21 mutations in 6 (38%) of the tumors. Next generation sequencing revealed no further EGFR-mutated cases, but reported in 15 (94%) of the tumors mutations in other genes (ALK, BRAF, DDR2, KEAP1, MET, PTEN, STK11) previously associated with NSCLC. CONCLUSION: Larger studies are needed to define the prognostic values of different driver mutations in patients with NSCLC.