Baseline and interim PET-based outcome prediction in peripheral T-cell lymphoma: A subgroup analysis of the PETAL trial.

The prospective randomized Positron Emission Tomography (PET)-Guided Therapy of Aggressive Non-Hodgkin Lymphomas (PETAL) trial was designed to test the ability of interim PET (iPET) to direct therapy. As reported previously, outcome remained unaffected by iPET-based treatment changes. In this subgroup analysis, we studied the prognostic value of baseline total metabolic tumor volume (TMTV) and iPET response in 76 patients with T-cell lymphoma. TMTV was measured using the 41% maximum standardized uptake value (SUV41max ) and SUV4 thresholding methods. Interim PET was performed after two treatment cycles and evaluated using the ΔSUVmax approach and the Deauville scale. Because of significant differences in outcome, patients with anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-positive lymphoma were analyzed separately from patients with ALK-negative lymphoma. In the latter, TMTV was statistically significantly correlated with progression-free survival, with thresholds best dichotomizing the population, of 232 cm3 using SUV41max and 460 cm3 using SUV4 . For iPET response, the respective thresholds were 46.9% SUVmax reduction and Deauville score 1-4 vs 5. The proportion of poor prognosis patients was 46% and 29% for TMTV by SUV41max and SUV4 , and 29% and 25% for iPET response by ΔSUVmax and Deauville, respectively. At diagnosis, the hazard ratio (95% confidence interval) for poor prognosis vs good prognosis patients according to TMTV was 2.291 (1.135-4.624) for SUV41max and 3.206 (1.524-6.743) for SUV4 . At iPET, it was 3.910 (1.891-8.087) for ΔSUVmax and 4.371 (2.079-9.187) for Deauville. On multivariable analysis, only TMTV and iPET response independently predicted survival. Patients with high baseline TMTV and poor iPET response (22% of the population) invariably progressed or died within the first year (hazard ratio, 9.031 [3.651-22.336]). Due to small numbers and events, PET did not predict survival in ALK-positive lymphoma. Baseline TMTV and iPET response are promising tools to select patients with ALK-negative T-cell lymphoma for early allogeneic transplantation or innovative therapies.

Treatment of the bone marrow failure in Fanconi anemia patients with danazol.

More than 90% of Fanconi anemia (FA) patients experience progressive bone marrow failure during life with a median onset at 8 years of age. As matched sibling donor transplantation as preferred treatment is not available for the majority of patients, several synthetic androgens have been used as short-term treatment options for the marrow failure in FA patients for more than 50 years. Here, we retrospectively collected data on eight FA patients who received danazol for the off-label treatment of their marrow failure at a starting dose of approximately 5mg/kg body weight/die. The hematological parameters at the initiation of treatment were hemoglobin (Hb) <8 g/dL and/or thrombocytes <30,000/µl. In 7 out of 8 FA patients, the values for both parameters rose on average >50% over the starting counts within 6 months and remained stable for up to 3 years despite careful reduction of the danazol dose per kg body weight. In 4 patients with a follow-up of 3 years, the platelets finally reached an average of 68,000/µL or 2.8 times over the starting values, while the Hb remained stable >11 g/dL. Danazol was reduced to 54% of the starting dose or 2.6 mg/kg/die. One FA-A patient with an unusually severe phenotype did not response with her PB counts to either danazol or oxymethalone within 6 months. None of the patients developed severe or unacceptable side-effects from the danazol treatment that led to the discontinuation of therapy. This initial description suggests that danazol might be an effective and well-tolerated treatment option for delaying the progressive marrow failure in FA patients for at least 3 years and longer.