Subject(s)
Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols/therapeutic use , Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia/drug therapy , Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia/pathology , Antibodies, Monoclonal/administration & dosage , Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized , Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols/adverse effects , Cyclophosphamide/administration & dosage , Drug Resistance, Neoplasm , Humans , Recurrence , Retreatment , Survival Analysis , Treatment Outcome , Vidarabine/administration & dosage , Vidarabine/analogs & derivatives , Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia/mortalityABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of combination anthracycline-based immunochemotherapy in intravascular lymphoma (IVL). This is an extremely rare, disseminated, and aggressive extranodal CD20(+) non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) with poor outcome following anthracycline-based chemotherapy. From a population of 700 newly diagnosed patients with NHL who were registered and followed up at our unit between 1990 and 2005, three cases (0.4%) have been classified as IVL. Among the patients, there were two men and one woman, with a median age of 52 years. We have assessed the clinicopathological characteristics, response to therapy, and outcome. All patients presented with systemic symptoms and disseminated disease. All patients received anthracycline-based chemotherapy in combination with the anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody rituximab (immunochemotherapy). Complete remission was achieved in all three patients, and currently all remain progression free with a follow-up of 24-45 months. In conclusion, anthracycline-based immunochemotherapy induces durable remissions in patients with IVL, an ultimately fatal disease, suggesting that the clinical course of this disease may be altered with immunochemotherapy.