Inpharma 1465 - 27 Nov 2004

Gemcitabine + dexamethasone +cisplatin effective in NHL

Treatment with gemcitabine plus dexamethasone andcisplatin is effective in patients with recurrent andrefractory aggressive B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma(NHL), say researchers from Canada.

In this phase II trial conducted at nine centres inCanada, 51 patients received salvage therapy with two3-week cycles of IV gemcitabine 1000 mg/m2 on days 1and 8, oral dexamethasone 40mg in divided doses ondays 1–4, plus IV cisplatin 75 mg/m2 on day 1. Patientswho responded to treatment could then proceed tohigh-dose chemotherapy and stem cell transplantation(SCT), or receive further cycles of this regimen.

The overall response rate after two cycles was 49%,with 16% of patients having a complete response.Grade 3 and 4 granulocytopenia and thrombocytopeniaoccurred in 63% and 27% of patients, respectively. Ofthe 35 patients aged ≤ 65 years, 22 proceeded to SCT.Crump M, et al. Gemcitabine, dexamethasone, and cisplatin in patients withrecurrent or refractory aggressive histology B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma: aphase II study by the National Cancer Institute of Canada Clinical Trials Group(NIC-CTG). Cancer 101: 1835-1842, No. 8, 15 Oct 2004 800993918

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Inpharma 27 Nov 2004 No. 14651173-8324/10/1465-0001/$14.95 Adis © 2010 Springer International Publishing AG. All rights reserved