title: Treatment of early stage-B chronic lymphocytic leukemia with alpha-2b interferon after chlorambucil reduction of the tumoral mass.
abstract: Eleven patients with early CLL (two in Rai's stage 0, seven in stage I, and two in stage II) received aIFN (3 MU subcutaneously three times a week for a median of 8 months; range, 4-12) after their tumor mass had been reduced with intermittent chlorambucil. Following chlorambucil/aIFN administration, a significant reduction in blood lymphocyte counts (from 25.1 +/- 12.0 x 10(9)/l to 6.3 +/- 5.32 x 10(9)/l; p less than 0.001) and in CD 19-positive cells (from 21.0 +/- 12.0 x 10(9)/l to 3.8 +/- 2.3 x 10(9)/l; p less than 0.001) was observed. Three of seven patients with stage-I and one of two with stage-II disease moved to stage 0, and a complete response (CR) was observed in two patients with stage-I at diagnosis. Overall, there were eight patients who, after treatment, had either a CR (2 cases) or stage-0 disease (6 cases), which compares favorably with two patients with stage-0 disease before entering the study (p = 0.015). In five patients (including the two who achieved a CR) aIFN further improved the disease status achieved with chlorambucil.
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate School of Hematology Farreras Valenti Hospital Clínic, University of Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Montserrat
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Villamor
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Urbano-Ispizua
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Ribera
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lozano
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Vives-Corrons
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rozman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002699:Chlorambucil / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016130:Immunophenotyping; D007370:Interferon Type I / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015451:Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Chronic, B-Cell / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging
chemical_list: D007370:Interferon Type I; D002699:Chlorambucil