BACKGROUND: To explore the potential role of infiltrating benign B cells in classic Hodgkin disease (HD) lesions in supporting the survival of malignant Hodgkin and Reed-Sternberg (H/RS) cells, the authors initiated a pilot study of rituximab. Rituximab is used to primarily deplete normal B cells from HD lesions. METHODS: Patients with recurrent, classic HD who had received a minimum of two prior treatment regimens, regardless of whether H/RS cells expressed CD20, were treated with 6 weekly doses of 375 mg/m2 rituximab to selectively deplete infiltrating benign B cells. Objective tumor response was determined 3 weeks after completion of the last dose of rituximab and every 3 months thereafter. Serum samples were collected from patients before they started rituximab therapy and 3 weeks after the final course of rituximab. Serum cytokine levels of interleukin 6 (IL-6), IL-10, IL-12, IL-13, and interferon gamma were determined using commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits. RESULTS: Twenty-two patients with nodular sclerosis histology were evaluable for treatment response. Five patients (22%) achieved partial or complete remission that lasted for a median of 7.8 months (range, 3.3-14.9 months). Remissions were observed in patients only at lymph node and splenic sites, but not at extranodal sites, and were irrespective of CD20 expression by H/RS cells. Furthermore, systemic (B) symptoms resolved in six of seven patients after therapy. In two patients, partial remissions were associated with a decline in serum IL-6 levels. CONCLUSIONS: The current data suggest that rituximab therapy in patients with recurrent, classic HD can alter serum IL-6 cytokine levels, can improve B symptoms, and may result in clinical remissions. Copyright 2003 American Cancer Society.
BACKGROUND: To explore the potential role of infiltrating benign B cells in classic Hodgkin disease (HD) lesions in supporting the survival of malignant Hodgkin and Reed-Sternberg (H/RS) cells, the authors initiated a pilot study of rituximab. Rituximab is used to primarily deplete normal B cells from HD lesions. METHODS:Patients with recurrent, classic HD who had received a minimum of two prior treatment regimens, regardless of whether H/RS cells expressed CD20, were treated with 6 weekly doses of 375 mg/m2 rituximab to selectively deplete infiltrating benign B cells. Objective tumor response was determined 3 weeks after completion of the last dose of rituximab and every 3 months thereafter. Serum samples were collected from patients before they started rituximab therapy and 3 weeks after the final course of rituximab. Serum cytokine levels of interleukin 6 (IL-6), IL-10, IL-12, IL-13, and interferon gamma were determined using commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits. RESULTS: Twenty-two patients with nodular sclerosis histology were evaluable for treatment response. Five patients (22%) achieved partial or complete remission that lasted for a median of 7.8 months (range, 3.3-14.9 months). Remissions were observed in patients only at lymph node and splenic sites, but not at extranodal sites, and were irrespective of CD20 expression by H/RS cells. Furthermore, systemic (B) symptoms resolved in six of seven patients after therapy. In two patients, partial remissions were associated with a decline in serum IL-6 levels. CONCLUSIONS: The current data suggest that rituximab therapy in patients with recurrent, classic HD can alter serum IL-6 cytokine levels, can improve B symptoms, and may result in clinical remissions. Copyright 2003 American Cancer Society.
Authors: Anas Younes; Yasuhiro Oki; Peter McLaughlin; Amanda R Copeland; Andre Goy; Barbara Pro; Lei Feng; Ying Yuan; Hubert H Chuang; Homer A Macapinlac; Fredrick Hagemeister; Jorge Romaguera; Felipe Samaniego; Michelle A Fanale; Bouthaina Shbib Dabaja; Maria A Rodriguez; Nam Dang; Larry W Kwak; Sattva S Neelapu; Luis E Fayad Journal: Blood Date: 2012-02-27 Impact factor: 22.113
Authors: Paolo Strati; Michelle A Fanale; Yasuhiro Oki; Francesco Turturro; Luis E Fayad; Nancy L Bartlett; Douglas E Gladstone; Yvette L Kasamon; Carol S Portlock; Wyndham H Wilson; Andre Goy; Anas Younes; Hun Ju Lee Journal: Haematologica Date: 2018-09-06 Impact factor: 9.941
Authors: Luigi Aloj; Laura D'Ambrosio; Michela Aurilio; Anna Morisco; Ferdinando Frigeri; Corradina Caraco'; Francesca Di Gennaro; Gaetana Capobianco; Leonardo Giovannoni; Hans D Menssen; Dario Neri; Antonio Pinto; Secondo Lastoria Journal: Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging Date: 2014-01-17 Impact factor: 9.236
Authors: Richard J Jones; Christopher D Gocke; Yvette L Kasamon; Carole B Miller; Brandy Perkins; James P Barber; Milada S Vala; Jonathan M Gerber; Lan L Gellert; Mark Siedner; M Victor Lemas; Sarah Brennan; Richard F Ambinder; William Matsui Journal: Blood Date: 2009-02-02 Impact factor: 22.113