Ernesto Vigna

The advent of high-dose melphalan with autologous stem-cell transplantation (ASCT), the availability of novel agents such as thalidomide, lenalidomide (immunomodulatory drugs or IMiDs), and bortezomib (proteasome inhibitor) and improvements in supportive care have allowed to increase overall survival in multiple myeloma (MM) patients, nevertheless MMremains an incurable pathology. For this reason, newer agents are required for continued disease control. Bendamustine is an old drug rediscovered in the last decade. In fact, its unique mechanism of action with structural similarities to both alkylating agents and antimetabolities, but which is not cross resistant toalkylating agents, has reawakened interest in the use of this drug in the treatment of MM. Studies have proven the safety and efficacy of bendamustine administered alone or in combination with new drugs in both upfront and relapse/refractory settings of MM patients, including those with renal impairment. Moreover, bendamustine has been successfully used as conditioning for autologous stem-cell transplantation. Finally,the use of bendamustine does not compromise peripheral blood stem cell collection.This drug is generally welltolerated, with the majority of adverse events being due to myelosuppression. Non-haematological adverse events are infrequent and usually mild. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

ZAP-70 is a marker of clinical outcome in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), however its assessment suffers from a lack of standardization consensus. To identify novel markers able to surrogate IGHV mutational status, CD19(+)CD5(+)-B-lymphocytes from 216 patients enrolled in a prospective study (ClinicalTrial.gov Identifier:NCT00917540), underwent gene expression profiling. Samples were split into CLL-Training (n=102) and CLL-Validation (n=114) sets, and an independent supervised analysis for IGHV mutational status was performed considering all genes with gene expression equal or above that of ZAP-70. Thirty-one genes (23 up- and 8 down-regulated) and 23 genes (18 up- and 5 down-regulated) satisfied these criteria in the CLL-Training and CLL-Validation sets, respectively, and 20 common genes (15 up and 5 down) were found to be differentially regulated in both sets. Two (SNORA70F, NRIP1) of the down-regulated and 6 (SEPT10, ZNF667, TGFBR3, MBOAT1, LPL, CRY1) of the up-regulated genes were significantly associated with a reduced risk of disease progression in both sets. Forcing the afore-mentioned genes in a Cox multivariate model together with IGHV mutational status, only CRY1 (HR=2.3, 95% CI: 1.1-4.9, P=.027) and MBOAT1 (HR=2.1, 95% CI: 1.1-3.7, P=.018) retained their independent prognostic impact, supporting the hypothesis that these genes may potentially act as surrogates for predicting IGHV mutational status.

We performed an external and multicentric validation of the nomogram and prognostic index (PI) proposed by the MD Anderson Cancer Center to prognostically stratify chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) patients in 1502 CLL cases. All six parameters involved in the nomogram and PI (age, sex, absolute lymphocyte count, number of lymph node groups, Rai stage and β2-microglobulin) were independently associated with survival. The nomogram was accurate in predicting survival (c-index = 0·82). According to the PI, 38·7% of patients were at low-risk, 58·3% at intermediate-risk and 3% at high-risk. The estimated median survival times were: not reached for low-risk, 13·4 years for intermediate-risk and 3·4 years for high-risk. The estimated median and 5-year survival by PI were similar to those originally reported. The PI remained a predictor of survival when analysis was limited to 847 Rai stage 0 (P < 0·0001) and 151 clinical monoclonal B-cell lymphocytosis (cMBL) cases (P = 0·033). Finally, the PI allowed prediction of time to therapy in all patients (P < 0·0001), in Rai 0 (P < 0·0001) and in cMBL cases (P = 0·044). Our results confirm the ability of the PI to predict prognosis, even in early stage disease cases. The study also extended the utility of the PI to cMBL cases.

Bendamustine is a unique bifunctional alkylating agent with promising activity in multiple myeloma (MM). It is currently licensed in Europe for use as frontline treatment with prednisolone for patients with MM who are unsuitable for transplantation and who are contraindicated for thalidomide and bortezomib therapy. Studies evaluating the safety and efficacy of bendamustine administered alone or in combination in both the upfront and relapse settings of MM patients, including those with renal insufficiency, were reviewed. The use of bendamustine as conditioning for autologous stem-cell transplantation and the possibility of stem-cell mobilization after bendamustine therapy are discussed. Bendamustine seems to be efficacious either in monotherapy or in combination with other drugs in previously treated or untreated patients. This is due to its unique mechanism of action including its ability to activate apoptosis and inhibit mitotic checkpoints, making it potentially more effective than other alkylating agents. Moreover, it has an acceptable toxicity profile and is suitable for patients with renal impairment. Finally, this drug does not seem to compromise the possibility of achieving a stem-cell mobilization. Nonetheless, data from Phase III studies demonstrating its effectiveness in terms of overall survival are not yet available.

The treatment of newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (MM) has evolved rapidly over recent years. The availability of new effective drugs with novel mechanisms of action, such as thalidomide, lenalidomide and bortezomib in the last decade, has resulted in a new scenario expected to impact favorably on the outcome of patients with MM. The introduction of new drugs in the treatment of patients eligible for autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) has allowed for a significant increase of complete response rate with a positive impact on progression-free survival. In patients not eligible for ASCT, randomized trials have shown that both thalidomide and bortezomib when combined with melphalan and prednisone (MP) are superior to MP and are now considered the standard of care. Ongoing trials are assessing whether MP plus lenalidomide or the combination of lenalidomide plus dexamethasone should be considered an attractive treatment option, while additional studies are needed to determine the role of routine maintenance or consolidation therapy with these new drugs. This new therapeutic armamentarium in light of adequate prophylaxis and supportive care allows clinicians to greatly improve the survival perspectives for both young and elderly patients. In this review, we report updated data for the front-line therapy of MM, examining the role of new drugs either when administered as induction therapy before ASCT in younger patients or when combined with alkylating agents for the treatment of older patients. The most relevant articles on therapy of MM published from November 1982 to January 2010 (selected through PubMed), and recent meeting abstracts were used as sources for this review.

The fusion protein between the platelet-derived growth factor receptor alpha (PDGFRalpha, P) gene and the Fip1-like1 (FIP1L1, F) may be identified in 14 to 60% of HES and it indicates a clonal hypereosinophilic syndrome called F/P-positive CEL. We herein report a case of F/P-positive CEL with retro-orbital localization, who was successfully treated with imatinib. A 53-year-old male presented an absolute eosinophil count of 25,000/mm(3), anemia (Hb 10.2 g/dl) and a moderate increase in the platelet count (571,000/mm(3)). A clinical examination revealed left exophthalm, associated with diffuse hypoesthesia and diplopia. A CT scan of orbits showed a lesion located in the lachrymal fossa of the left orbit with intra- and extra-conical extension. Molecular analysis excluded the presence of bcr/abl transcript while a F/P fusion tyrosine kinase signal was documented. Imatinib mesylate (IM) was started and, after 7 days of treatment eosinophil count significantly declined along with a dramatic reduction of the left exophthalm. IM dosage was increased up to 300 mg/day. The drug was well tolerated with an initial modest haematological toxicity. The left exophthalm, as well as hypoesthesia and diplopia, disappeared after IM therapy. MRI showed a clear reduction of the intra- and extra-conical growth process. BM molecular signal of the F/P fusion gene resulted undetectable after 4 weeks of treatment. In our case, the diagnosis of FIPIL1-PDGFRA-positive CEL and IM therapy has allowed the patient to experience an excellent clinical therapeutic result, avoiding surgical treatment of the retro-orbital mass.