Journal
HEMATOLOGICAL ONCOLOGY
Volume 26, Issue 4, Pages 247-251Publisher
JOHN WILEY & SONS LTD
DOI: 10.1002/hon.868
Keywords
oral fludarabine; cyclophosphamide; low dose; elderly; chronic lymphocytic leukaemia
Categories
Funding
- EHA
- Hairy Cell Leukemia Foundation (Illinois, USA)
- Piano di Atenco per la Ricerca (University of Siena)
- PRIN-MUR
- Siena-AIL ONLUS and AIRC 2007 (Associazione Italiana Ricerca sul Cancro)
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Fludarabine plus cyclophosphamide (FC) at conventional doses is an effective treatment for chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL). However, FC at standard doses may give hematological and non-hematological toxicity, predominantly in the elderly. Intravenous or oral low-dose FC regimens remain highly effective in elderly patients with Low-Grade Lymphomas other than CLL and are well tolerated. We tested efficacy and toxicity of oral FC at reduced doses in 26 elderly patients (median 71 years) with previously untreated (UT-CLL, n = 14) or relapsed/refractory CLL (R-CLL, n = 12), unfit for conventional treatments. Twentyfour-of-26 (92%) patients (14/14, 100% UT-CLL; 10/12, 83.5% R-CLL) obtained a response, with 12/26 (46%) complete responses (9/14, 64.2% in UT-CLL; 3/12, 25% in R-CLL). Non-hematological toxicity was mild and myelosuppression was documented in 8/26 (31%) patients (4/14, 28% UT-CLL; 4/12, 33% R-CLL). With a median follow-up of 24 months, median event-free survival was 48 months with no differences between UT-CLL and R-CLL and all responders were alive. Low-dose oral FC treatment showed good efficacy in both untreated and refractory/relapsed CLL. The treatment is useful in elderly patients who cannot benefit of more aggressive schedules and is easy to administer on an outpatient basis. Copyright (C) 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available