title: Response to therapy with interferon alpha-2b and prednisolone in aggressive systemic mastocytosis: report of five cases and review of the literature.
abstract: Aggressive systemic mastocytosis (ASM) is a hematopoietic neoplasm characterized by infiltration of visceral organs by neoplastic mast cells (MCs) with consecutive organopathy and respective clinical and laboratory findings (so called C-Findings). Whereas, it is generally appreciated that patients with ASM are candidates for pharmacological intervention, no ideal drug or drug combination have been identified yet. One drug proposed to work in ASM is interferon alpha-2b (IFN-alpha2b). However, little is known so far about the quality of responses to IFN-alpha2b and actual response rates. We here report on five ASM patients treated with either a combination of IFN-alpha2b (3x3 million units per week) and prednisolone (n=4), or IFN-alpha2b alone (n=1). During therapy, two of the five patients showed a major response defined by complete resolution of C-Finding(s), one a partial response (partial regression of C-Findings), and one a stable disease (no changes in C-Findings). In one patient, progression to mast cell leukemia was seen after 3 months. In contrast to the other patients, this patient exhibited >10% MCs in his bone marrow (bm) smear at first presentation. In summary, our data confirm beneficial effects of IFN-alpha2b (plus prednisolone) for a group of patients with ASM, whereas patients with mast cell leukemia may require more aggressive therapy. Prospective trials with more patients are now required to further document these drug effects and to better define subgroups of patients with ASM who show good and long-lasting responses to IFN-alpha2b.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine I, Division of Hematology and Hemostaseology, University of Vienna, Währinger Gürtel 18-20, A-1090 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Alexander W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Hauswirth
authors.forename: Ingrid
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Simonitsch-Klupp
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Uffmann
authors.forename: Elisabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Koller
authors.forename: Wolfgang R
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: Sperr
authors.forename: Klaus
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lechner
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Valent
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000473:pathology; D018450:Disease Progression; D004341:Drug Evaluation; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D005334:Fever / Q000139:chemically induced; D006801:Humans; D000077190:Interferon alpha-2; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007946:Leukemia, Mast-Cell; D008297:Male; D034721:Mastocytosis, Systemic / Q000188:drug therapy*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010146:Pain / Q000139:chemically induced; D011239:Prednisolone / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000077190:Interferon alpha-2; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D011239:Prednisolone