Intensive therapy with peripheral stem cell transplantation in 16 patients with mantle cell lymphoma

Background: Despite improved detection of mantle cell lymphoma (MCL),results of its treatment with conventional therapies remain disappointing andthe survival rate poor. The role of high-dose chemotherapy has recently beeninvestigated but no potential benefit has been clearly established. We reporthere our experience with MCL patients treated with intensive chemotherapy andautologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT).Patients and methods: Of the 16 MCL patients who received high-dosechemotherapy and ASCT beginning in 1989, six were treated in first-line and10 in sensitive relapse. Twelve of 16 patients received regimens whichincluded total body irradiation. All patients received peripheral blood stemcells (PBSC) with the exception of one, who underwent bone marrowtransplantation.Results: Three patients died of toxic effects of treatment. Three monthsafter transplant, seven achieved complete responses (CR) and two partialresponses (PR), two were stable and two had progressed. With a medianfollow-up after transplant of 22 months, five of the six surviving patientswere without progression, and three were in CR. The median times forevent-free survival (EFS) and overall survival (OS) were, respectively, 249and 317 days. The expected three-year EFS and OS were 24%. The mediansurvival after diagnosis was only 29 months. None of the criteria appeared tobe significantly associated with a better outcome, but first-lineintensification and a short delay after initial diagnosis may be favorable.Conclusion: In this study we were not able to confirm the hypotheticalbenefit of high-dose chemotherapy and PBSC transplantation in mantle celllymphoma, even though this approach may be promising in a subgroup of patient.     

Frequency and significance of anemia in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma patients

Objectives: Retrospective evaluation of anemia frequency and its prognostic value in patients with different subtypes of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and comparison with other clinical characteristics.Patients and methods: Anemia was defined as a hemoglobin value less than or equal to 12 g/dl for all men and women over 50 years of age, and less than or equal to 11 g/dl for women under 50 years of age. The study included 1077 adult lymphoma patients treated between 1980 and 1995 with the following histologic subtypes: 127 patients with small lymphocytic or lymphoplasmacytoid, 62 with marginal zone, 50 with mantle-cell, 208 with follicular, 104 with T-cell lymphoma, 426 with diffuse large-cell and, finally, 73 patients with other high-grade lymphomas.Results: Anemia was present in 341 patients (32%). It was an adverse prognostic factor (P <; 0.0001) for overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) but not for relapse-free survival (RFS). When patients with and those without bone marrow involvement were considered separately, anemia remained an adverse factor. Anemia was significantly associated with shorter PFS in small lymphocytic or lymphoplasmacytoid, mantle cell, diffuse large cell and high-grade lymphomas and with shorter OS in all histologic subgroups except marginal zone lymphoma. In multivariate analysis, anemia was a significant prognostic factor for OS and PFS for the population as a whole (P = 0.0001 and P = 0.0048, respectively) and in patients with bone marrow involvement (P = 0.007 and P = 0.005, respectively) but not in patients without bone marrow involvement. Finally, the addition of anemia to the International Prognostic Index led to an improvement for OS (P = 0.0004) and PFS (P = 0.0004).Conclusions: Anemia is an important adverse prognostic factor for the outcome of lymphoma patients, particularly in some histologic subgroups and in patients with bone marrow involvement.     

Myelodysplastic syndromes. A multiparametric study of prognostic factors in 336 patients

Two groups of patients with a myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) were analyzed by univariate (log-rank test) and multivariate (logistic regression) analyses to detect the most important prognostic factors. By stepwise analysis, the variables found to have prognostic significance for death were as follows: age, percentage of marrow blasts, presence of circulating blasts, and number of platelets. The variables found significant for predicting progression to acute leukemia (AL) were as follows: hemoglobin level, percentage of marrow blasts, and presence of circulating blasts. The first group of 193 patients was used to build a prognostic index which reflected the probability of a given patient dying or progressing to AL within 6, 9, or 12 months. The application of this prognostic index to a test group of 143 patients was used to determine the expected error rate and the validity of the prediction rule.     

Distribution of the cytogenetic abnormality +i(3)(q10) in persistent polyclonal B-cell lymphocytosis: a FICTION study in three cases

Persistent polyclonal B-cell lymphocytosis (PPBL) is a rare entity characterized by a moderate but sustained lymphocytosis where some binucleated or bilobulated circulating forms constitute, even if they are not entirely specific, the cytological hallmark of the disease. An additional chromosome long arm i(3)(q10) has recently been reported as a recurrent cytogenetic aberration, contrasting with a usual polyclonal immunoglobulin expression. To determine more precisely the distribution of the chromosomal abnormality within the peripheral lymphocyte population and study the relationship between the +i(3)(q10) and the bilobulated character, we investigated three new cases of PPBL displaying the cytogenetic abnormality on the karyotype, using a technique of simultaneous fluorescence immunophenotyping and interphase cytogenetics (FICTION). We demonstrated that the +i(3)(q10) was restricted to the B lymphocytes, independently of the κ or λ light chain isotype and was present in both bilobulated and non-bilobulated cells. Therefore it is likely that the cytogenetic abnormality occurs at an early stage of lymphocyte differentiation in a precursor cell already committed to the B-cell lineage, before any rearrangement of immunoglobulin genes has taken place.