A simple, inexpensive, widely available serum lactate test had significant predictive value in identifying which patients with hematologic malignancies and febrile neutropenia are at risk for septic shock in a study presented at the ASH meeting this week.

Evidence from a large managed-care database suggests that sargramostim (Leukine) reduced the risk of infection-related hospitalization as well as associated costs compared with filgrastim (Neupogen) or pegfilgrastim (Neulasta) in patients with chemotherapy-induced neutropenia.

Thalomide may not be the best partner for bortezomib (Velcade) in combination therapy for elderly multiple myeloma patients. Based on the results of a phase III clinical trial, bortezomib, prednisone, and thalidomide achieved equivalent outcomes when compared with a similar combination therapy using melphalan, but led to more serious adverse events, particularly thromboembolic complications.

An imatinib-based (Gleevec) regimen induced a similarly high rate of hematological complete response (CR) versus a more intensive imatinib-HyperCVAD regimen in younger adults with de novo Philadelphia-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). However, the rate of molecular response was somewhat lower with the imatinib-based regimen, according to preliminary results of the GRAAPH 2005 study.

Bortezomib-based combination induction therapy paired with thalidomide offers a promising addition to the treatment armamentarium for multiple myeloma, according to results of a phase II study.

Sargramostim (Leukine) paired with a patient-specific immunotherapy mitumprotimut-T (Specifid), failed to reduce time to remission in patients with CD20+ follicular lymphoma following therapy with rituximab (Rituxan), according to the highly anticipated results of a phase III clinical trial.

Dexamethasone and prednisone were equally effective as induction therapy for children with newly diagnosed acute lymphocytic leukemia in terms of five-year event-free survival, according to a second interim analysis of EORTC Trial 58951.

A new technique to expand cord blood cells has demonstrated mixed results with myeloid engraftment in patients achieved in an average of 16 days. But results from the preliminary clinical trial indicate that the technique is logistically cumbersome and will most likely require modification before it can be a viable alternative for patients, according to Seattle-based investigators.

Rasburicase (RAS) is superior to allopurinol in adult patients with hematological malignancies whose treatment puts them at high risk for developing tumor lysis syndrome or who have hyperuricemia at baseline, according to a study out of Houston’s M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.

Vorinostat (Zolinza) showed encouraging single-agent activity and was well tolerated over long durations of therapy in patients with two forms of indolent lymphoma, relapsed/refractory follicular and marginal zone lymphoma, according to results of a phase II study.

Age alone should not prohibit patients with acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndromes from receiving curative allogeneic stem cell transplantation, according to researchers from Houston’s M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.

Dexamethasone in the induction phase of chemotherapy led to a one-third reduction in the risk of relapse, compared with standard treatment, in pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia, according to results of an international trial, which were presented this week at the American Society of Hematology meeting in San Francisco.

Two of the largest trials to date on the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia indicate that the combination treatment of fludarabine, cyclophosphamide, and rituximab (Rituxan) should become the new standard of care for both untreated and previously treated patients.