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Patients in PLEIADES and EQUULEUS had received a median (range) of 1 (1-1) and 2 (1-4) prior lines of therapy, respectively, and 60 (90.9%) and 85 (100%) patients had received prior proteasome inhibitor therapy. EQUULEUS (NCT01998971) evaluated daratumumab IV plus weekly Kd (carfilzomib 70 mg/m SP 2 sp ; dexamethasone 40 mg) in RRMM patients after 1 to 3 prior lines of therapy (including bortezomib and an immunomodulatory drug). Patients in CANDOR received carfilzomib 56 mg/m SP 2 sp twice weekly (monthly cumulative dose, 336 mg/m SP 2 sp [Cycle 1, 264 mg/m SP 2 sp ]), while patients in PLEIADES and EQUULEUS received carfilzomib 70 mg/m SP 2 sp weekly (monthly cumulative dose, 210 mg/m SP 2 sp [Cycle 1, 160 mg/m SP 2 sp ]; ie, 62.5% of CANDOR monthly dose). [Extracted from the article]

Purpose: Evidence on the effect of self-protection via social distancing and wearing face-masks on infections during chemotherapy is currently not available. We asked if the occurrence of acute infections during chemotherapy for advanced-stage Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) decreased when COVID-19 protection measures were in effect. Methods: We analyzed the occurrence of infections during all documented eBEACOPP cycles starting between 01 March and 30 June of 2017 to 2020 in patients treated within the GHSG HD21 study in Germany and compared the infection rates and characteristics by logistic regression models and means of descriptive statistics. Results: We analyzed 911 cycles of 313 adult patients treated with 4 to 6 cycles of eBEACOPP. We found a significant decrease in the occurrence of infections during chemotherapy for HL during COVID-19 lockdown from 131 (19.6%) of 670 cycles in 2017–2019 to 30 (12.6%) of 239 cycles during COVID-19 lockdown [OR 0.574 (95% CI 0.354–0.930), P = 0.024]. The strongest effect was evident for unspecified infections with 39 cycles (5.8%) during 2017–2019 in comparison to 5 cycles (2.1%) during COVID-19 lockdown. 20 (24.1%) of 83 patients had an infection during the COVID-19 lockdown versus 99 (43.2%) of 229 patients in the years 2017–2019 (P = 0.0023). Conclusion: The significant decrease of infections during chemotherapy for HL during COVID-19 lockdown reveals the protective measures' potential to shield patients from transmissible pathogens. We conclude that these measures could be recommended for HL patients at risk for infections during chemotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The addition of etoposide to the CHOP protocol (CHOEP) has been shown to improve outcome in patients with aggressive non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The intravenous administration of etoposide on three consecutive days represents a logistic problem and needs resources particular in the outpatient setting. This could be avoided by using etoposide capsules on days 2 and 3. However, the oral administration of cytotoxic agents is often affected by variable absorption and drug interactions. We investigated the pharmacokinetic equivalency of oral and intravenous etoposide in ten patients (male, n = 7; female, n = 3; median age 56 years) with aggressive lymphomas. Treatment consisted of standard CHOP plus etoposide 100 mg/m2 given intravenously on day 1, and 200 mg/m2 orally on days 3 and 4. Samples from blood and urine were taken on days 1 (i.v. study) and 3 (p.o. study) before and after etoposide administration. Etoposide levels were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated with the TOPFIT computer program. Mean peak plasma level after intravenous etoposide was significantly higher compared to oral administration (16.3 ± 3.7 vs. 12.0 ± 4.2 μg/ml; P = 0.015). The mean bioavailability of oral etoposide was 58 ± 15% with an interpatient variability of 26%. Significant differences of bioavailability of oral etoposide between the used dose levels (350, 400 and 450 mg) were not observed. Mean AUC after a 100 mg/m2 intravenous and a 200 mg/m2 oral dose of etoposide were 74.0 ± 18.3 and 84.9 ± 29.6 μg h/ml ( P = 0.481). Interpatient variability of AUC was 25% for the intravenous route and 35% after oral intake. Urinary etoposide excretion as percentage of administered dose was 39.4 ± 10.6% after intravenous infusion versus 35.4 ± 9.4% after oral intake ( P = 0.422). Renal clearance was also very similar with intravenous and oral route (18.5 ± 7.4 vs. 16.7 ± 6.6 ml/min; P = 0.546). The equivalency of AUC after 200 mg/m2 of oral and 100 mg/m2 of intravenous etoposide support the use of the oral preparation in patients treated with the CHOEP regimen, which makes the chemotherapy more convenient for the patients and help to reduce costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. To assess the outcome of intensive care unit (ICU) treatment in patients with hematological malignancies. Design and setting. Retrospective cohort study in the medical ICU of a university hospital. Patients. 104 critically ill patients after receiving conventional chemotherapy or autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Interventions. We analyzed demographic data, underlying disease, intensity of antineoplastic regimen, cause of admission, need for mechanical ventilation, and hemofiltration, ICU survival, and survival after discharge, furthermore neutrophil count, C-reactive protein (≤150 vs. >150 mg/l), antithrombin III, prothrombin time, and SAPS II (≤50 vs. >50) at ICU admission. All recorded variables were evaluated for prognostic relevance by univariate and multivariate analyses. Measurements and results. Overall ICU mortality was 44%, with significantly higher mortality in ventilated patients (74% vs. 12% in nonventilated patients, p<0.001). Overall survival for the entire group 6 months and 1 year after ICU admission was 33% and 29%, respectively. Multivariate analysis revealed mechanical ventilation and SAPS II as independent prognostic factors of both ICU mortality and long-term survival, while C-reactive protein predicted only ICU mortality. Conclusions. The outcome of patients not requiring ventilatory support in this study was encouraging, while invasive ventilation was again confirmed as predicting a dismal prognosis in this population. Efforts should be directed to avoiding this procedure by reducing the pulmonary toxicity of antineoplastic treatment and to making ventilatory support more tolerable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]