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Blood, 1 May 2007, Vol. 109, No. 9, pp. 3676-3678. Prepublished online as a Blood First Edition Paper on January 9, 2007; DOI 10.1182/blood-2006-10-052746. This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Supplemental Appendix All Versions of this Article: blood-2006-10-052746v1 109/9/3676    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Rights and Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via CrossRef Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Vignetti, M. Articles by Mandelli, F. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Vignetti, M. Articles by Mandelli, F. Related Collections Brief Reports Clinical Trials and Observations Social Bookmarking                   What's this?  Previous Article  |  Table of Contents  |  Next Article  CLINICAL TRIALS AND OBSERVATIONS Brief Report Imatinib plus steroids induces complete remissions and prolonged survival in elderly Philadelphia chromosome–positive patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia without additional chemotherapy: results of the Gruppo Italiano Malattie Ematologiche dell'Adulto (GIMEMA) LAL0201-B protocol Marco Vignetti1, Paola Fazi2, Giuseppe Cimino1, Giovanni Martinelli3, Francesco Di Raimondo4, Felicetto Ferrara5, Giovanna Meloni1, Achille Ambrosetti6, Giovanni Quarta7, Livio Pagano8, Giovanna Rege-Cambrin9, Loredana Elia1, Raffaello Bertieri10, Luciana Annino11, Robin Foà1, Michele Baccarani3, and Franco Mandelli1 1 Department of Cellular Biotechnologies and Hematology, "La Sapienza" University, Rome, Italy; 2 GIMEMA Data Center, GIMEMA Foundation, Rome, Italy; 3 Hematology and Medical Oncology Institute "L. e A. Seragnoli," University of Bologna, Italy; 4 Department of Hematology, "Ferrarotto" Hospital, University of Catania, Italy; 5 Department of Hematology, "A. Cardarelli" Hospital, Naples, Italy; 6 Department of Hematology, University of Verona, Italy; 7 Department of Hematology, "A. Di Summa" Hospital, Brindisi, Italy; 8 Department of Hematology, "Sacro Cuore" Catholic University, Rome, Italy; 9 Department of Clinical and Biological Sciences, University of Turin, Italy; 10 Novartis Pharma S.p.A., Origgio, Milan, Italy; 11 Department of Hematology, "S. Giovanni" Hospital, Rome, Italy Thirty elderly (> 60 years) Philadelphia chromosome–positive (Ph+) patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) received imatinib, 800 mg daily, associated to steroids without further chemotherapy as frontline treatment. Median age was 69 years (range, 61-83 years). Twenty-nine patients were evaluable for response and all of them obtained a hematologic complete remission, with a median BCR-ABL reduction of 2.9 and 2.0 logs in p190+ and p210+ cases, respectively. Most of the induction treatment did not require admission of the patients. No major toxicities occurred and the treatment was well tolerated. Median survival from diagnosis was 20 months. This study shows that elderly Ph+ patients with ALL—often considered eligible only for palliative treatment strategies—may benefit from an imatinib-steroids protocol, which does not require chemotherapy nor a long hospitalization, is feasible, highly active, and associated with a good quality of life. CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this? This article has been cited by other articles: M. Yanada, J. Takeuchi, I. Sugiura, H. Akiyama, N. Usui, F. Yagasaki, K. Nishii, Y. Ueda, M. Takeuchi, S. Miyawaki, et al. Karyotype at diagnosis is the major prognostic factor predicting relapse-free survival for patients with Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia treated with imatinib-combined chemotherapy Haematologica, February 1, 2008; 93(2): 287 - 290. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] M. Wetzler Philadelphia Chromosome-positive Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: On Target to Improve Outcome ASCO Educational Book, January 1, 2008; 2008(1): 275 - 279. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] J. M. Rowe and A. H. Goldstone How I treat acute lymphocytic leukemia in adults Blood, October 1, 2007; 110(7): 2268 - 2275. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] H. Pfeifer, B. Wassmann, A. Pavlova, L. Wunderle, J. Oldenburg, A. Binckebanck, T. Lange, A. Hochhaus, S. Wystub, P. Bruck, et al. Kinase domain mutations of BCR-ABL frequently precede imatinib-based therapy and give rise to relapse in patients with de novo Philadelphia-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Ph+ ALL) Blood, July 15, 2007; 110(2): 727 - 734. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] D. A. Thomas Philadelphia Chromosome Positive Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia: A New Era of Challenges Hematology, January 1, 2007; 2007(1): 435 - 443. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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