title: Activity of cladribine combined with etoposide in heavily pretreated patients with indolent lymphoid malignancies.
abstract: We determined the effectiveness and toxicity of combined chemotherapy consisting of etoposide 100 mg/m(2)/day i.v. and cladribine (2-CdA) 0.12 mg/kg/day i.v. each for 5 days (EC regimen) in the treatment of refractory or relapsed low-grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia. The cycles were repeated every 28 days, reaching a maximum of six courses. Twenty patients entered the study. All patients had received three or more cycles of chemotherapy before the EC regimen (median 8, range 3-19). Thirteen patients received 2-CdA before the EC regimen. Seven out of 20 patients (35%) responded, including one complete response. Median overall survival time of responding patients was 22 months (range 3-30). Myelosuppression and infections were the major toxicity of the EC regimen.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology, Medical University of Lodz and Copernicus Memorial Hospital, Poland. robaktad@onet.pl
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Robak
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Szmigielska-Kapłon
authors.forename: J Z
authors.initials: JZ
authors.lastname: Błoński
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kasznicki
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Chojnowski
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017338:Cladribine / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005047:Etoposide / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007239:Infections / Q000139:chemically induced; D007262:Infusions, Intravenous; D015451:Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Chronic, B-Cell / Q000188:drug therapy*; D008228:Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / Q000188:drug therapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009503:Neutropenia / Q000139:chemically induced; D012008:Recurrence; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D017338:Cladribine; D005047:Etoposide