title: Lamivudine allows completion of chemotherapy in lymphoma patients with hepatitis B reactivation.
abstract: Reactivation of hepatitis B virus in patients receiving chemotherapy for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) may give rise to hepatitis, hepatic failure and death, and prevent further chemotherapy. We report four patients with NHL in whom hepatitis flare-up was observed after two (three patients) and six (one patient) cycles of chemotherapy. After spontaneous recovery, they were treated with Lamivudine (100 mg/day), which enabled completion of chemotherapy without further hepatitis B reactivation. In one patient, high-dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplantation was also performed. These data suggest a possible role for Lamivudine in preventing hepatitis B reactivation during chemotherapy administration to chronic carriers of the hepatitis B virus. Moreover, it enabled the completion of both standard and high-dose chemotherapy in patients with previous hepatitis B reactivation.
authors.affiliation: Division of Haematology, Department of Bone Marrow Transplantation, University Hospital, Udine, Italy.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Silvestri
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ermacora
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sperotto
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Patriarca
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zaja
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Damiani
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fanin
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Baccarani
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D019259:Lamivudine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008228:Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018894:Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014775:Virus Activation
chemical_list: D018894:Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors; D019259:Lamivudine