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Lenalidomide can be highly effective in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia despite T‐cell depletion and deletion of chromosome 17p
Author(s) -
Arumainathan Arvind,
Kalakonda Nagesh,
Pettitt Andrew R.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
european journal of haematology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 84
eISSN - 1600-0609
pISSN - 0902-4441
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0609.2011.01667.x
Subject(s) - lenalidomide , alemtuzumab , dexamethasone , chronic lymphocytic leukemia , medicine , cancer research , oncology , multiple myeloma , immunology , leukemia , antibody
Lenalidomide is an immunomodulatory agent with activity in a range of haematological cancers including chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL). However, major questions remain concerning its effectiveness in patients with T‐cell depletion or deletion of TP53 on chromosome 17p. This case report provides insight into these questions by showing that lenalidomide/dexamethasone in combination can be highly effective as induction therapy for refractory 17p‐ CLL, that remission quality can be improved by subsequent maintenance with lenalidomide alone and that the anti‐leukaemic effects of lenalidomide and its stimulatory effects on non‐malignant B cells are preserved despite prolonged T‐cell depletion resulting from prior alemtuzumab/methylprednisolone.