Follular lymphoma (FL) patients achieved nearly two decades of long-term disease remission in a small study that looked at a multimodality treatment approach: high-dose therapy and autologous stem cell transplantation with and without second-line BEAM (BCNU, etoposide(Drug information on etoposide), cytarabine(Drug information on cytarabine) and melphalan(Drug information on melphalan)) therapy. Clinicians based in Germany give details on survival rates and the prognostic factors that rendered their patients free from progression.
RESULT: Long-term clinical and molecular remission in patients with follicular lymphoma following high-dose therapy and autologous stem cell transplantation
Annals of Oncology | Feb 7, 2013 (Free abstract. Full text
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While remission is possible in FL, curative results are difficult to attain with conventional treatments. A group of international researchers believe that they have pinpointed somatic mutations in FL that are viable targets for mutation-based therapy. More specifically, they lay out which mutations tend to appear earlier versus later in the disease course, providing a potential road map for targeted treatment.
RESULT: Hierarchy in somatic mutations arising during genomic evolution and progression of follicular lymphoma
Blood | Jan 7, 2013 (Free abstract. Full text $35)
