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SAN FRANCISCO-Results of a phase II, open-label, multicenter study show that the investigational agent STI571 holds promise for many patients with Philadelphia chromosome-positive (Ph+) chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) whose disease has proved resistant to interferon therapy.

SAN FRANCISCO-HIV-positive patients with Burkitt’s lymphoma treated with intensive chemotherapy achieved high complete response rates similar to those without HIV infection, according to a retrospective review of 38 patients treated at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) between 1988 and 2000.

NEW ORLEANS-Rituximab (Rituxan) is more effective in indolent B-cell non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (NHL) than in mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), according to a study evaluating factors affecting toxicity, response, and time to progression presented at the 36th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

ASCO-Tositumomab (Bexxar), an investigational antibody-based radioim-munotherapy agent, has been shown to be effective as first-line treatment of advanced-stage, low-grade follicular lymphoma, Mark Kaminski, MD, said at the 36th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, New Orleans.

ASCO-STI-571, an investigational drug that has high activity in benign-phase chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), also produces significant hematologic responses in patients with advanced-stage CML or acute forms of leukemia, Moshe Talpaz, MD, said at the 36th annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in New Orleans.

ASCO-Mylotarg (gemtuzumab ozogamicin) has received FDA approval for treatment of CD33-positive acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) in patients age 60 and older in first relapse who are poor candidates for cytotoxic therapy. The agent, manufactured by Wyeth-Ayerst, was approved as an orphan drug.

NEW ORLEANS-The chemotherapy regimen HCVAD followed by stem cell transplantation yields high response and survival rates for patients with aggressive mantle cell lymphoma, Issa Khouri, MD, of the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, reported at the 41st annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH).

There is no standard treatment of stage III-IV follicular lymphoma patients with a low-tumor burden. Rituximab (Rituxan), a chimeric anti-CD20 antibody, is active in pretreated patients with an overall response (OR) rate of 50% and good tolerance.

Randomized trials are defining the role of autologous stem-cell transplantation in aggressive non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL), but there is less experience with this treatment in follicular lymphomas. Approximately 40% to 50% of patients with follicular NHL are in remission 4 to 5 years following autologous stem-cell transplantation. Results from phase II studies and retrospective analyses are remarkably similar, despite differences in patient populations, preparative regimens, use of purging, and source of stem cells. Nevertheless, there is little evidence of a plateau in disease-free survival curves, and we do not know whether patients are cured or overall survival is prolonged. Relapses 9 years following transplantation have been described.[1]

PORTLAND, Oregon-A rationally designed drug now known as STI 571 is both effective and well tolerated in treating certain leukemia patients that have not responded to other therapies. The results of two phase I clinical trials using STI 571 for chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) were reported by Brian Druker, MD, of the Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland, at the ASH meeting. The trials were conducted in collaboration with M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Novartis Pharmaceuticals in East Hanover, New Jersey, and the University of California at Los Angeles.

NEW YORK-Acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) is an aggressive disease. But improved diagnosis with cytogenetic examinations and other special studies have made it possible to select the most effective induction therapy, Frederick R. Appelbaum, MD, told patients at a teleconference sponsored by Cancer Care Inc. and the Leukemia Society of America.

NEW ORLEANS-2-Chlorodeoxyadenosine (cladribine, 2-CdA [Leustatin]) can produce response rates of 80% and higher in patients with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), according to two studies presented at the ASH meeting. One study examined 2-CdA as monotherapy, and the other studied it combined with mitoxantrone (Novantrone).

BOSTON-Adding rituximab (Rituxan) to cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, prednisone (CHOP) induction therapy may provide a cleaner source of autologous stem cells for use following high-dose therapy in mantle cell lymphoma, Orion Howard, MD, reported at the ASH meeting.