pentostatin and Chromosome-Deletion

Sezary syndrome (SS) presents clinically as erythroderma, which may be pigmented, and pruritic, associated with peripheral lymphadenopathies. Erythroderma may also occur in a broad range of reactive and malignant conditions including T-cell prolymphocytic leukemia (T-PLL). We report a case initially diagnosed as SS but ultimately diagnosed as T-PLL based upon skin involvement.. A 70-year-old man was referred by his hematologist for management of SS. Physical examination revealed lymphadenopathies and mild diffuse erythema without infiltration. His WBC count was elevated at 8.3 G/L. A peripheral blood smear showed Sezary-like cells. Flow cytometry of peripheral blood revealed prolymphocytic T-cells staining positively for CD2, CD3, CD4 and CD7. Cytogenetic studies showed chromosomal abnormalities in terms of number and structure with missing chromosomes 6 and13, as well as deletion of chromosome 17. Finally, a diagnosis of T-PLL was made. Pentostatin was initiated pending treatment with alemtuzumab, but the patient's overall condition deteriorated rapidly and he died 10 days later.. Diagnosis of LPLT is based upon a number of factors. In the case presented herein, the clinically atypical nature of the skin lesions prompted the dermatologist to review the diagnosis. The morphology of the circulating T-lymphocytes and their immunologic and phenotypic characteristics finally ruled out the diagnosis of Sezary syndrome, while their association with compatible cytogenetic anomalies enabled a diagnosis of prolymphocytic leukemia to be made instead.. Prolymphocytic leukemia involves complex differential diagnosis with regard to Sezary syndrome, posing potential pitfalls for hematologists and dermatologists.

Topics: Adenocarcinoma; Aged; Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic; Capecitabine; Chromosome Deletion; Combined Modality Therapy; Delayed Diagnosis; Diagnostic Errors; Fatal Outcome; Humans; Immunophenotyping; Leukemia, Prolymphocytic, T-Cell; Male; Neoplasms, Second Primary; Pentostatin; Rectal Neoplasms; Sezary Syndrome; Skin Neoplasms; T-Lymphocytes

7 regimens of pentostatin based chemoimmunotherapy (CIT) for progressive previously untreated CLL primarily with long term follow-up to update both efficacy and toxicity.. Prognostic markers including assessment of IGVH and FISH status were done on all. Response rates and 95% binomial confidence intervals were calculated for each regimen and in the combined cohort. Overall survival and treatment-free survival were evaluated using Kaplan-Meier methods.. The initial CIT trial was pentostatin (2 mgs/m2), cyclophosphamide (600 mg/m2) and rituximab (PCR) but subsequent P based CIT trials with modifications in subsequent trials. The cohort (n = 288) included 52% with unmutated IGVH status and del17p (4.5%) and del11q (14.9%). Toxicity profiles were primarily hematologic and no patient has developed MDS or AML after a median follow-up of 6.4 years. The overall response rate across all trials was found to be over 90% with a 41% complete response rate. We validated that the CLL IPI model segregates progressive CLL patients into 4 risk groups associated with OS and TFS.. The high overall and complete response levels in favorable genetic risk CLL along with favorable toxicity profiles provide rationale for consideration of a PC based strategy for previously untreated progressive CLL.

Topics: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols; Chromosome Deletion; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 11; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 17; Cyclophosphamide; Disease-Free Survival; Female; Humans; Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Chronic, B-Cell; Male; Middle Aged; Pentostatin; Rituximab; Smith-Magenis Syndrome; Survival Rate

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL) patients with purine analog refractory disease or TP53 dysfunction still have limited treatment options and poor survival. Alemtuzumab-containing chemoimmunotherapy regimens can be effective but frequently cause serious infections. We report a Phase II trial testing the efficacy and tolerability of a short-duration regimen combining pentostatin, alemtuzumab, and low-dose high-frequency rituximab designed to decrease the risk of treatment-associated infections and to limit the loss of CD20 expression by CLL cells. The study enrolled 39 patients with progressive CLL that was either relapsed/refractory (n = 36) or previously untreated with 17p13 deletion (17p13-) (n = 3). Thirteen (33%) patients had both 17p13- and TP53 mutations predicted to be dysfunctional, and eight patients had purine analog refractory CLL without TP53 dysfunction. Twenty-six (67%) patients completed therapy, with only five (13%) patients having treatment-limiting toxicity and no treatment-related deaths. Twenty-two (56%) patients responded to treatment, with 11 (28%) complete responses (four with incomplete bone marrow recovery). Median progression-free survival was 7.2 months, time to next treatment was 9.1 months, and overall survival was 34.1 months. The majority of deaths (82%) were caused by progressive disease, including transformed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (n = 6). Correlative studies showed that low-dose rituximab activates complement and natural killer cells without a profound and sustained decrease in expression of CD20 by circulating CLL cells. We conclude that pentostatin, alemtuzumab, and low-dose high-frequency rituximab is a tolerable and effective therapy for CLL and that low-dose rituximab therapy can activate innate immune cytotoxic mechanisms without substantially decreasing CD20 expression.

Topics: Aged; Alemtuzumab; Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized; Antibodies, Monoclonal, Murine-Derived; Antigens, CD20; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols; Chromosome Deletion; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 17; Disease-Free Survival; Female; Humans; Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Chronic, B-Cell; Male; Middle Aged; Neoplastic Cells, Circulating; Pentostatin; Recurrence; Remission Induction; Rituximab