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Long-term outcome of patients with advanced-stage cutaneous T cell lymphoma treated with gemcitabine

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Abstract

The choice of treatment for cutaneous T cell lymphoma (CTCL) is often determined by institutional experience, particularly as there is a paucity of data from phase III trials and a lack of consensus concerning treatment of the advanced stages. Among the several second-line and experimental drugs, gemcitabine could be considered one of the most suitable options for pretreated CTCL. Since it is difficult to find in literature the long-term outcome regarding the efficacy of a single-agent drug in pretreated patients and, in particular, in rare diseases such as CTCL, a retrospective observational study was conducted with the aim of evaluating the long-term outcome of CTCL patients treated with gemcitabine. Twenty-five patients with at least one therapy (range 1–8) performed prior to gemcitabine were found. After gemcitabine treatment, the overall response was 48 % with a 20 % of complete responses. At 15 years, the estimated overall survival is 47 %, progression-free survival 8.8 %, and disease-free survival 40 % (median reached at 2.9 years). All patients received at least three cycles and no grade 3–4 hematological adverse events occurred. At the latest follow-up, two patients are still in continuous complete response. This long-term update on the role of gemcitabine as a single agent in pretreated advanced-stage CTCL confirms this monotherapy as effective and safe.

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Acknowledgments

The Italian Association for Leukemias, Lymphomas, and Myeloma (AIL, Bologna, Italy) has partially funded the study. The funding source had no role in study design, collection, analysis, or interpretation of the data, or in writing this report.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Hematology “L. e A. Seràgnoli”, University of Bologna, Via Massarenti 9, 40138, Bologna, Italy

    Cinzia Pellegrini, Vittorio Stefoni, Beatrice Casadei, Roberto Maglie, Lisa Argnani & Pier Luigi Zinzani

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  1. Cinzia Pellegrini
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  2. Vittorio Stefoni
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  3. Beatrice Casadei
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  4. Roberto Maglie
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  5. Lisa Argnani
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  6. Pier Luigi Zinzani
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Correspondence to Pier Luigi Zinzani.

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Pellegrini, C., Stefoni, V., Casadei, B. et al. Long-term outcome of patients with advanced-stage cutaneous T cell lymphoma treated with gemcitabine. Ann Hematol 93, 1853–1857 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00277-014-2121-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00277-014-2121-1

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