[Treatment with fludarabine of lymphoid neoplasms with low grade malignity resistant to treatment or in relapse].
BACKGROUND
In the last years the treatment of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and low-grade lymphomas (NHL) has changed because of the introduction of new agents, mainly the purine analogs. We report our experience with fludarabine in patients with indolent lymphoid malignancies that were previously treated with conventional agents.


METHODS
Twenty patients were studied. Eleven had CLL and nine NHL. Among the patients with CLL and NHL, 72 and 100%, respectively, had advanced disease. All patients had previously been treated. Fludarabine was administered by intravenous infusion at a dose of 25 mg/m2, for 5 days every 4 weeks until a maximum of 6 cycles.


RESULTS
Neither complete response (CR) nor partial response (PR) was recorded in patients with CLL; 4 (36%) achieved clinical improvement. Among the 9 patients with NHL, 3 (33%) had a CR and one a PR; two of the 3 patients with CR also achieved a molecular remission. In 3 patients with CLL their disease progressed from stage II to IV. Three patients (one with CLL and two with NHL) developed high-grade lymphoma during or immediately after the treatment with fludarabine. The major toxicities were infections: 3 patients had lobar pneumonia and one an interstitial pneumonia without microbiological identification.


CONCLUSIONS
Fludarabine is an active agent in patients with low-grade lymphoid malignancies refractory to the treatment or in relapse. The possibility of obtaining molecular remissions makes this agent specially interesting in those therapies including hemopoietic progenitors transplantation as intensification treatment.
Briones
J
J
Escuela de Hematología Farreras Valenti, Departamento de Medicina, Hospital Clínic i Provincial, Universidad de Barcelona.
Montserrat
E
E
Urbano-Ispizua
A
A
Esteve
J
J
Colomer
D
D
López-Guillermo
A
A
Bosch
F
F
Hadjieu
E
E
Rozman
C
C
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D019008:Drug Resistance, Neoplasm; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015451:Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Chronic, B-Cell / Q000188:drug therapy*; D008228:Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / Q000188:drug therapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000188:drug therapy*; D014740:Vidarabine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D014740:Vidarabine; C024352:fludarabine
Tratamiento con fludarabina de neoplasias linfoides de bajo grado de malignidad resistentes al tratamiento o en recaída.