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.

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.

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.

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.