TY - JOUR
T1 - Chronic lymphocytic leukemia-associated immune thrombocytopenia treated with rituximab
T2 - A retrospective study of 21 patients
AU - D'Arena, Giovanni
AU - Capalbo, Silvana
AU - Laurenti, Luca
AU - Del Poeta, Giovanni
AU - Nunziata, Giuseppe
AU - Deaglio, Silvia
AU - Spinosa, Giuseppina
AU - Tarnani, Michela
AU - De Padua, Laura
AU - Califano, Catello
AU - Ferrara, Felicetto
AU - Cascavilla, Nicola
PY - 2010/12
Y1 - 2010/12
N2 - Introduction: There are no standard therapies for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL)-associated immune thrombocytopenia (IT) so far.Patients and methods: We report the results of therapy with single agent rituximab in 21 patients with CLL-associated IT. The mean age at CLL and IT diagnosis was 64 and 68 yr, respectively. IT developed at a mean time of 44 months from the diagnosis of CLL. In four cases, IT was diagnosed at the same time as CLL. For three patients, IT was considered fludarabine-related and two patients showed autoimmune hemolysis also. All patients but one received steroids as first-line treatment for IT. Some patients received intravenous high-dose Ig, vincristine, and Cytoxan also, without beneficial effect. After a mean time of 43 d from the diagnosis of IT, all patients were scheduled to receive rituximab at a dosage of 375 mg/mq/weekly.Results: Eighteen (86%) patients completed the scheduled four cycles of rituximab. Irrelevant first infusion side effects were seen only in one patient. Twelve (57%) patients showed a complete response (CR), six (29%) patients a partial response (PR), and three (14%) patients did not respond. In responding patients, the mean duration of response was 21 months (4-49 months). At a mean follow-up of 28 months, 14 (66%) patients were still alive, 10 (48%) of them in CR and three (14%) in PR.Conclusions: This retrospective analysis prove that rituximab is an effective and well-tolerated alternative treatment for CLL-associated IT.
AB - Introduction: There are no standard therapies for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL)-associated immune thrombocytopenia (IT) so far.Patients and methods: We report the results of therapy with single agent rituximab in 21 patients with CLL-associated IT. The mean age at CLL and IT diagnosis was 64 and 68 yr, respectively. IT developed at a mean time of 44 months from the diagnosis of CLL. In four cases, IT was diagnosed at the same time as CLL. For three patients, IT was considered fludarabine-related and two patients showed autoimmune hemolysis also. All patients but one received steroids as first-line treatment for IT. Some patients received intravenous high-dose Ig, vincristine, and Cytoxan also, without beneficial effect. After a mean time of 43 d from the diagnosis of IT, all patients were scheduled to receive rituximab at a dosage of 375 mg/mq/weekly.Results: Eighteen (86%) patients completed the scheduled four cycles of rituximab. Irrelevant first infusion side effects were seen only in one patient. Twelve (57%) patients showed a complete response (CR), six (29%) patients a partial response (PR), and three (14%) patients did not respond. In responding patients, the mean duration of response was 21 months (4-49 months). At a mean follow-up of 28 months, 14 (66%) patients were still alive, 10 (48%) of them in CR and three (14%) in PR.Conclusions: This retrospective analysis prove that rituximab is an effective and well-tolerated alternative treatment for CLL-associated IT.
KW - Chronic lymphocytic leukemia
KW - Immune thrombocytopenia
KW - Rituximab
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U2 - 10.1111/j.1600-0609.2010.01527.x
DO - 10.1111/j.1600-0609.2010.01527.x
M3 - Article
C2 - 20846302
AN - SCOPUS:78349285119
VL - 85
SP - 502
EP - 507
JO - European Journal of Haematology
JF - European Journal of Haematology
SN - 0902-4441
IS - 6
ER -