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BIRMINGHAM, Alabama-Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) may respond to rituximab (Rituxan) monoclonal antibody treatment, even in steroid-refractory patients, investigators reported in a poster presentation.

AMSTERDAM-Adding granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) to rituximab may improve response duration and increase the proportion of complete responses in patients with relapsed B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL). "Although the overall response rate seems comparable to data reported for rituximab monotherapy, the complete response rate is higher, and remission duration in this pilot phase-II study is remarkably long," Lizette E. van der Kolk, MD, reported in a poster presentation. Dr. van der Kolk is a member of the Department of Hematology, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

BUFFALO-Combining rituximab (Rituxan) with fludarabine (Fludara) for low-grade or follicular B-cell lymphomas may be as effective as but less toxic than rituximab plus CHOP (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, Oncovin [vincristine], prednisone). Phase II trial data supporting this assertion were presented.

WASHINGTON-What a difference a year makes. Cigarette smoking dropped significantly among middle school and high school students between 1999 and 2000, according to a new federally funded report. For example, the percentage of high school seniors who had smoked at least once in the month prior to being surveyed fell from 34.6% to 31.4% (Figure). Those 12th graders who smoked a half pack of cigarettes or more each day declined from 13.2% to 11.3%.

ATLANTA-Parecoxib, the first injectable COX-2 inhibitor, demonstrated impressive analgesic efficacy in postsurgical patients, according to a study presented at the 19th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Pain Society (APS).

NEW YORK-"Use it or lose it," exercise buffs like to say, and the dictum is just as true for cancer patients, according to physical therapist Eileen Donovan, PT, MEd, manager of rehabilitation services at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. Ms. Donovan discussed the topic during a Cancer Care teleconference.

SAN FRANCISCO-Administering highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) to HIV-positive patients during and after treatment for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) can significantly reduce the risk of NHL relapse and death.

STANFORD, California-A recombinant idiotype protein vaccine for treatment of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) induced both cellular and anti-idiotype tumor-specific immunity in phase-I/II trials and has now progressed to phase-III studies, reported John Timmerman, MD, research fellow, Division of Oncology, Stanford University Medical Center, Stanford, California.

WASHINGTON-Medicare will soon cover or expand its coverage of the use of positron emission tomography (PET) for the primary diagnosis, staging, or restaging of six types of cancer. The Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) said it would announce an effective coverage date shortly.

SAN ANTONIO-Women with metastatic breast cancer who experience disease progression on trastuzumab (Herceptin) may benefit from continued treatment with the antibody, according to results of a crossover study presented by Debu Tripathy, MD, associate clinical professor of medicine, University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine. Moreover, trastuzumab cardiotox-icity was only 2.2% among long-term users.

BALTIMORE-The B-cell directed monoclonal antibody rituximab (Rituxan) can produce durable complete remissions without the need for maintenance therapy in patients with cold agglutinin autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA) and might also represent a treatment option in warm agglutinin AIHA, according to Edward Lee, MD. Dr. Lee is director of hematology and medical oncology at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore, and Director of the Bone Marrow Transplantation Program.

BOSTON-An experimental mixed-beam radiation technique can reduce the total radiation dose required by a factor of two in simple cancer cases, Michelle M. Svatos, PhD, reported at the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO) annual meeting.

SAN FRANCISCO-Advances in gene therapy, cancer vaccines, and a variety of new antibody therapies for hematologic malignancies were the focus of a satellite symposium to the 42nd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology titled Scientific and Technical Innovations in Biology: Initiating Advances in Therapeutic Approaches to Hematological Malignancies. The program was sponsored by Fox Chase Cancer Center through an unrestricted educational grant from Genentech BioOncology and IDEC Pharmaceuticals.

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO-A new study reveals that patients who develop HAMA (human antibodies to the murine antibody) after treatment with iodine I 131 tositumomab (Bexxar) do not develop cross-reactive antibodies or immune reactions that would interfere with later treatment with rituximab (Rituxan).

HUDDINGE, SWEDEN-Two cycles of rituximab (Rituxan) are effective and well tolerated in patients with symptomatic previously untreated or first-relapse low-grade lymphomas, reported Eva Kimby, MD. Speaking on behalf of the Nordic Lymphoma Group, Dr. Kimby, who is in the Department of Medicine at Huddinge Hospital, in Huddinge, Sweden, said that early data suggest that the effect of rituximab might be augmented by interferon-alfa-2a (IFN). This phase-II study included researchers from Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland.

SAN FRANCISCO-Umbilical cord blood transplants provide new hope for children with leukemia and genetic diseases requiring transplantation, Joanne Kurtzberg, MD, said at the 42nd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH). She reported that 53% of pediatric patients treated with cord blood transplant at Duke University are surviving.

HOUSTON-Adding rituximab (Rituxan) to standard chemotherapy increased complete remission (CR) rates for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and reduced the number of bone marrow cells expressing the CLL-associated cell-surface markers CD5 and CD19, according to Michael J. Keating, MD. "Fludarabine, cyclophosphamide, and rituximab (FCR) is the most active regimen explored by our group in previously untreated CLL, and the toxicity profile is similar to that seen with FC alone," said Dr. Keating, professor of leukemia developmental research at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

LYON, France-In one of the most eagerly awaited presentations at the 42nd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology, Bertrand Coiffier, MD, predicted that the combination of rituximab (Rituxan) plus CHOP "may be the new standard for treatment of aggressive B-cell lymphomas in elderly patients." Head of hematology at Hospices Civilese de Lyon, Lyon, France, Dr. Coiffier presented an interim analysis of results from a European phase III trial of rituximab plus CHOP (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, Oncovin [vincristine], prednisone) in elderly patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphomas (DLBCL).

CHICAGO-Intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) offers dramatic advantages for selected pediatric patients, such as those with sarcomas of the chest, abdomen, or pelvis, as well as children with tumors of the head and neck or brain, said Suzanne Wolden, MD, a radiation oncologist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

SAN FRANCISCO-Iodine I 131 tositumomab (Bexxar) attains complete remission in more than one third of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) patients, and these responses can last several years, according to a 10-year study.

BOSTON-Gene expression profiling may help predict survival outcomes for patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), the most common lymphoid malignancy, according to a study reported by Margaret Shipp, MD, director of the Lymphoma Program at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. In the study, gene expression profiling was able for the first time to identify curable and noncurable lymphomas from a pool of intermediate-risk patients.

SAN FRANCISCO-Interim results of a trial of the combination of rituximab (Rituxan) and fludarabine (Fludara), a novel approach for the treatment of low-grade or follicular B-cell lymphoma, suggest excellent antitumor activity. Rituximab, an anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody, is the only approved monoclonal antibody therapy for refractory or relapsed low-grade or follicular non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL).

SAN FRANCISCO-The anemia drug darbepoetin alfa (ARANESP) effectively alleviates anemia, boosting hemoglobin counts and reducing the need for red blood cell transfusions, according to the results of two separate studies.

NEW YORK-Low doses of arsenic trioxide (ATO) given by intravenous injection are highly effective at inducing remission in patients with relapsed acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) and should be tested in patients with newly diagnosed disease. These results and recommendation were based on research conducted at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) in New York.

BETHESDA, Md-Why don’t all Americans get the best available cancer care? Answers both tentative and diverse have emerged from the first four of seven regional hearings conducted by the President’s Cancer Panel (PCP). The hearings are intended to elicit testimony from people throughout the nation.

BOSTON-Health care providers are not generally part of the discussion about the future of health care in the United States-but they need to speak up in the perilous times ahead, Harvard University economist Marc J. Roberts, PhD, challenged physicians at the 42nd Annual Meeting of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO).

WASHINGTON-Gene therapy is unlikely to cure cancer on its own, but may enhance existing treatments when used in combination, said Chuan-Yuan Li, PhD, of Duke University Medical Center. "Combining gene therapy with radiation therapy produces a synergistic effect on tumors and merits further study," he said at the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation grants conference "Reaching for the Cure."

WASHINGTON, DC-Rituximab (Rituxan) given three times per week has significant activity in chronic lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL) and in small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL), but platelets must be monitored closely in patients with preexisting thrombocytopenia. These results from a phase-I/II rituximab study were described by John C. Byrd, MD, of Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, DC.

BETHESDA-"BL22 is the first agent since purine analogs capable of inducing complete remission in the majority of patients with hairy cell leukemia, and the only agent that can induce complete remission in most patients with chemotherapy-refractory or variant HCL," according to Robert J. Kreitman, MD. "Its sparing of T cells," he continued, "may also allow improved clearing of minimal residual disease."

HOUSTON-High-dose chemotherapy (HDCT) plus rituximab (Rituxan) produces responses comparable to HDCT with total body irradiation and stem cell transplant for aggressive mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), according to Jorge E. Romaguera, MD, of the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. In a poster presentation, Dr. Romaguera said that HDCT with rituximab (but without total body irradiation or stem cell transplant) produced a complete response (CR) rate of 86%.