Autologous bone marrow transplant in a patient with sickle cell disease and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

As the life expectancy of patients with homozygous sickle cell anemia (SCA) improves, SCA care providers are confronted with diseases of the adult SCA population rarely seen before. We report here a 40-year-old woman with SCA who developed diffuse large B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) that was treated with eight cycles of chemotherapy consisting of cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, prednisone, and etoposide (CHOPE), without complete remission. She subsequently underwent high-dose cyclophosphamide and total-body irradiation followed by autologous bone marrow transplantation (BMT). To reduce the risk of sickle cell crisis precipitated by G-CSF, she underwent hypertransfusion to maintain a low % hemoglobin S throughout her treatment course. Although she has required iron chelation therapy and shows no sign of modification of her underlying SCA, she remains in remission from NHL 12 years posttransplant. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of autologous BMT in a patient with SCA. Our patient illustrates that SCA in itself does not preclude autologous stem cell transplantation for lymphoma in selected patients, and this report should encourage others to consider autologous BMT in adults with SCA where it represents a lifesaving therapy for malignant diseases.

Beyond pancreatic cancer: irinotecan and gemcitabine in solid tumors and hematologic malignancies.

Non-platinum combinations including gemcitabine and irinotecan (Gemzar; Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, IN) for the management of a variety of malignancies have started to emerge. Gemcitabine and irinotecan are well-tolerated single agents, each with a broad spectrum of antitumor activity. Preclinical data suggests synergy for the two drugs when used in combination. A phase I trial has defined a well-tolerated combination regimen using both drugs on a day-1, -8 schedule every 3 weeks. Phase II data suggest activity for the combination in pancreatic cancer, and a phase III trial of the two-drug combination versus gemcitabine alone is underway in previously untreated pancreatic cancer patients. Other phase II trials evaluating the impact of this combination on a variety of other tumors, such as non-small cell lung, small cell lung, breast, colorectal, and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, are either forthcoming or in progress. Semin Oncol 28 (suppl 10):34-43.

Irinotecan/gemcitabine combination chemotherapy in pancreatic cancer.

Gemcitabine (Gemzar) and irinotecan (CPT-11, Camptosar) are active cytotoxic drugs against pancreatic cancer. Preclinical data evaluating the combination of gemcitabine and irinotecan suggest dose-dependent synergistic interactions in SCOG small-cell lung cancer and MCF-7 breast cancer cell lines. Two phase I trials of this combination have been reported to date: the day 1 and 8 every-3-week schedule (IrinoGem trial), and the day 1, 8, and 15 every-4-week schedule (MSKCC trial). Both trials aimed to determine the maximum tolerated dose of irinotecan when administered as a 90-minute i.v. infusion either immediately after (IrinoGem) or before or immediately after (MSKCC) gemcitabine at 1,000 mg/m2 by 30-minute i.v. infusion in patients with solid tumors. The achieved maximum tolerated dose of IrinoGem has a higher dose intensity of irinotecan (100 mg/m2 on days 1 and 8, every-3-week cycle) compared with the MSKCC schedule (60 mg/m2 on days 1, 8, and 15, every-4-week trial). In IrinoGem, two of three previously untreated metastatic pancreas cancer patients had durable radiologic partial responses. The third had stable disease with clinical benefit for eight cycles. In addition, a patient with metastatic adenocarcinoma of unknown primary--potentially pancreatic--has had a durable response and is alive more than 30 months after the diagnosis. Preliminary results of a 45-patient multicenter phase II trial with IrinoGem in advanced and metastatic pancreas cancer were recently reported. Toxicity was modest, with no toxic deaths or neutropenic fever. Radiologic response rate was 20% of patients (9 out of 45), and a CA 19-9 decrease of more than 50% from baseline values occurred in 32.5% of patients (13 out of 40). Median survival was 6 months (range: 0.9 to 12.2+ months) and median time to treatment failure was 2.9 months (range: 0.1 to 11.3+ months). A pivotal international multicenter phase III trial comparing IrinoGem to single-agent gemcitabine in advanced and metastatic pancreas cancer is ongoing.

"Tower vertebra": a new observation in sickle cell disease.

BACKGROUND: Skeletal abnormalities are common in sickle cell anemia. Ischemia, infarction, and growth disturbance of the thoracic and lumbar vertebral bodies are among the most common abnormalities, and can suggest the diagnosis radiographically. DESIGN AND PATIENTS: We recently encountered two adult patients in whom vertebrae had grown abnormally in height adjacent to infarcted short vertebrae. We then reviewed the thoracic and lumbar spine radiographs of 54 more adult patients with sickle cell anemia. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: A total of eight patients (14%) displayed infarcted vertebrae with compensatory vertical growth of at least one adjacent vertebrae. These resemble the elongated vertebral bodies associated with other conditions. We can find no prior report of this finding in association with sickle cell anemia.