Lamivudine allows completion of chemotherapy in lymphoma patients with hepatitis B reactivation.
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.
Silvestri
F
F
Division of Haematology, Department of Bone Marrow Transplantation, University Hospital, Udine, Italy.
Ermacora
A
A
Sperotto
A
A
Patriarca
F
F
Zaja
F
F
Damiani
D
D
Fanin
R
R
Baccarani
M
M
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
D018894:Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors; D019259:Lamivudine