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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 (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 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. Social Bookmarking                   What's this?  Previous Article  |  Next Article  Submitted October 24, 2006 Accepted December 21, 2006 Imatinib plus steroids induces complete remissions and prolonged survival in elderly Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients without additional chemotherapy: results of the GIMEMA LAL0201-B protocol Marco Vignetti*, Paola Fazi, Giuseppe Cimino, Giovanni Martinelli, Francesco Di Raimondo, Felicetto Ferrara, Giovanna Meloni, Achille Ambrosetti, Giovanni Quarta, Livio Pagano, Giovanna Rege-Cambrin, Loredana Elia, Raffaello Bertieri, Luciana Annino, Robin Foa, Michele Baccarani, and Franco Mandelli Dept of Cellular Biotechnologies & Hematology, "La Sapienza" University, Rome, Italy GIMEMA Foundation, GIMEMA Data Center, Rome, Italy Hematology & Medical Oncology Institute "L. e A. Seragnoli", University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy Dept of Hematology, "Ferrarotto" Hospital, University of Catania, Catania, Italy Dept of Hematology, "A. Cardarelli" Hospital, Napoli, Italy Dept of Hematology, University of Verona, Verona, Italy Dept of Hematology, "A. Di Summa" Hospital, Brindisi, Italy Dept of Hematology, "Sacro Cuore" Catholic University, Rome, Italy Dept of Clinical & Biological Sciences, University of Turin, Turin, Italy Novartis Pharma S.p.A., Origgio, Milan, Italy Dept of Hematology, "S. Giovanni" Hospital, Rome, Italy * Corresponding author; email: vignetti{at}bce.uniroma1.it. Thirty elderly (>60 years) Ph+ acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) patients received Imatinib, 800 mg daily, associated to steroids without further chemotherapy as front-line treatment. Median age was 69 years (61-83). Twenty-nine patients were evaluable for response and all of them obtained an hematological 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+ ALL patients - 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: G. Martinelli, I. Iacobucci, C. T. Storlazzi, M. Vignetti, F. Paoloni, D. Cilloni, S. Soverini, A. Vitale, S. Chiaretti, G. Cimino, et al. IKZF1 (Ikaros) Deletions in BCR-ABL1-Positive Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Are Associated With Short Disease-Free Survival and High Rate of Cumulative Incidence of Relapse: A GIMEMA AL WP Report J. Clin. Oncol., November 1, 2009; 27(31): 5202 - 5207. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] A. Vitale, S. Grammatico, S. Capria, C. Fiocchi, R. Foa, and G. Meloni Advanced Philadelphia chromosome positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients relapsed after treatment with tyrosine-kinase inhibitors: successful response to clofarabine and cyclophosphamide Haematologica, October 1, 2009; 94(10): 1471 - 1473. [Full Text] [PDF] D. Hoelzer and N. Gokbuget Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplant in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: Who and When? ASCO Educational Book, January 1, 2009; 2009(1): 355 - 359. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] S. M. O'Brien, D. A. Thomas, and S. Faderl A La Carte Therapy of Specific Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia Subsets ASCO Educational Book, January 1, 2009; 2009(1): 365 - 370. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] 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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