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In the Czech Republic, pomalidomide is covered for patients with multiple myeloma (in combination with dexamethasone), in the treatment of patients with relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma, who underwent at least 2 previous treatment schedules including both lenalidomide and bortezomibe, with disease progression despite the last therapy (i.e. during the therapy or within 60 days of its end), for whom the only remaining alternative of treatment (apart from pomalidomide) is that using high-dose dexamethasone, and who are not indicated for myeloablative treatment followed by a transplant of stem cells. At our centre pomalidomide was used in 53 patients at a median age of 66 years based on this indication. Pomalidomide was administered in 1 daily dose over 21 days in 28-day cycles. Considering the risk of thromboembolism occurring in this therapy, all patients were administered a prophylactic dose of low-molecular-weight heparin. No patient achieved complete remission (Czech Republic), 5 patients (9.4 %) achieved very good partial remission (VGPR), partial remission (PR) was achieved by 16 (30.2 %) patients, a minimum therapeutic response (MR) was recorded for 6 (11.3 %) patients. The median number of administered cycles was 4.4 (1-22). 16 (28.5 %) patients received treatment for more than 6 months. The overall survival median cannot be evaluated so far due to a short follow-up period. Nonetheless it was possible to evaluate a median time interval to progression (TTP) for the patients, which amounted to 7.0 (3.8-8.2) months. These results are consistent with large registration studies where therapeutic response (at least PR) is reached by 1/3 of the patients and medians of therapeutic response range between 7-10 months. Pomalidomide is a medicine with very good tolerance which is efficient in patients with a progressing multiple myeloma.Key words: lenalidomide - multiple myeloma - pomalidomide - thalidomide.

Castlemans disease (also called angiofollicular lymph node hyperplasia) can take two forms with different prognosis: the localized form can usually be treated by a surgical intervention and has therefore a favourable prognosis. On the other hand, the multicentric form has an unfavourable prognosis and requires systemic treatment. Classic manifestations of multicentric Castlemans disease are multiple sites of lymphadenopathy, sometimes hepatomegaly and also splenomegaly or serous cavity effusions. Typical pathological laboratory levels measured in patients with this disease include an increased CRP level, anaemia of chronic diseases, and many patients have an increased total protein concentration, in some cases exceeding even 100g/ l. It is caused by a high concentration of polyclonal immunoglobulins. Typical clinical symptoms include fluctuating subfebrile or febrile temperatures, increased night sweats and fatigue usually related to anaemia. In some patients, the disease is manifested as vasculitis, frequently also affecting cerebral arteries, i.e. leading to cerebrovascular accidents. The aetiology of this disease is unclear; it is a polyclonal lymphocyte proliferation, often with differentiation into plasma cells. It is not a clonal malign disease; however, it can transform into a clonal lymphoproliferative disease. Even though it is not a malign disease in the histomorphological sense, the disease symptoms are so acute that systemic treatment is required. In the past, the treatment method of this disease used to be based on corticoids and cytostatics; however, such treatment was not always successful in achieving its objective, i.e. complete remission. In the past few years, an improvement of treatment results was accomplished by adding a new drug to the basic medication, i.e. to cytostatics and dexamethasone. Many publications describe the benefi t of adding a third drug from the IMiDs group (immunomodulatory drugs), such as thalidomide or lenalidomide. These drugs affect the formation of cytokines and block the angiogenesis, which in turn positively influences the speed of the treatment response. The second new drug that has helped in combination with classical treatment is the anti-CD20 antibody, rituximab. The third new drug to add this list is the monoclonal antibody against the interleukin-6 receptor, tocilizumab. This paper describes a rapid treatment response after combined treatment with cyclophosphamide 500mg/ m2 i.v. infusion 1st and 15th day in a 28- day cycle, dexamethasone 20mg p.o. cycle day 1- 4 and cycle day 15- 18, and thalidomide 100mg daily. In the course of the two-month treatment, the accumulation of fl uorodeoxyglucose during the PET-CT imaging has normalized; the originally pathologically enlarged nodes have become smaller, the originally elevated CRP level has normalized and the originally signifi cantly lower haemoglobin level has risen. This is the second patient with multicentric Castlemans disease in the last three years who showed a rapid response to treatment with thalidomide combined with cyclophosphamide and dexamethasone. Therefore, we consider such treatment suitable for newly diagnosed patients with multicentric Castlemans disease.

Unlabelled: Lenalidomide has been licenced for the treatment of multiple myeloma and, in 2012, it is used as a standard treatment of relapses of the disease. Literature contains a number of publications on the effects of lenalidomide in myelodysplastic syndrome, in malignant lymphomas and chronic B lymphocytic leukaemia. The effects of the drug in rare diseases, however, have not been investigated so far. In this paper, we summarize our experience with lenalidomide in rare blood disorders. We observed an excellent effect of lenalidomide in multifocal aggressive, repeatedly relapsing Langerhans cell histiocytosis where it led to complete remission. This patient was treated with 2-chlorodeoxyadenosine and with CHOEP (cyclophosphamide, etoposide, doxorubicin, vincristine and prednisone) chemotherapy and high dose BEAM chemotherapy with autologous transplantation of haematopoietic tissue for an early disease relapse. Following another early relapse, the patient was treated with lenalidomide (25 mg). Treatment with lenalidomide induced complete remission on PET-CT. The patient was consolidated during the remission with a reduced intensity conditioning regimen and allogeneic transplantation of haematopoietic tissue. Following allogeneic transplantation, the patient has been in full remission for 10 months. We further showed an excellent effect of lenalidomide in multicentric Castleman disease with generalized involvement of lymphatic nodes, B symptoms and vasculitis. The patient was first treated R-CHOP chemotherapy (rituximab, cyclophosphamide, adriamycin, vincristine and prednisone). Due to a lack of efficacy, this was changed to the CVD combination (cyclophosphamide, thalidomide, dexamethazone). This treatment delivered complete remission but was complicated by thalidomide-associated neuropathy. Due to persistent neuropathy, thalidomide could not be used to manage further relapse and thus lenalidomide (25 mg, 11 cycles) was used. The patient has been in complete PET-CT remission for 7 months following this treatment. We observed partial efficacy in Erdheim-Chester disease. We used 2-chlorodeoxyadenosine as part of initial treatment that delivered partial regression of brain infiltrates only; fluorodeoxyglucose accumulation in the bones has not changed. Lenalidomide 25 mg was used as second line treatment. This led to complete regression of CNS infiltrates on MRI but fluorodeoxyglucose accumulation in bone lesions did not change. Regression of clinical signs and regression of fibrosis of retroperitoneum was achieved with an ongoing treatment with anakinra. A patient with multiple angiomatosis affecting the abdominal cavity, mediastinum and vertebrae and digestive tract had been stabilized with zoledronate (4 mg once every 2 months) and thalidomide (100 - 200 mg/den) for several years. However, several years of this treatment led to severe neuropathy. Consequently, we attempted to substitute thalidomide for lenalidomide. However, 10 mg of lenalidomide alone was not sufficiently effective and thus low dose of 50 mg of thalidomide was added. Combined treatment with zoledronate, lenalidomide 10 mg/day and thalidomide 50 mg/day stabilized the condition for 9 months. Due to relapsed gastrointestinal bleeding the treatment had to be changed after 9 months to thalidomide 100 mg/day and Sandostatin 0.1 mg twice daily s.c. A patient with osteosclerotic myeloma and POEMS syndrome was initially treated with CAD chemotherapy (cyclophosphamide, adriamycine and dexamethazone) that was followed by tandem high dose chemotherapy (melphalan 100 mg/m2) and autologous transplantation. Treatment with thalidomide was given due to insufficient efficacy but was not tolerated. Lenalidomide was administered as the fourth line treatment. Even though literature describes remission of POEMS syndrome following lenalidomide, four cycles did not lead to remission in our patient., Conclusion: We showed an effect of lenalidomide in Langerhans cell histiocytosis and in Castleman disease. The treatment led to regression of brain infiltrates in a patient with Erdheim-Chester disease. A dose of 10 mg of lenalidomide daily in combination with 50 mg of thalidomide stabilized a course of angiomatosis. Lenalidomide did not deliver the required treatment response in a patient with POEMS syndrome and multiple previous therapies.

Adult Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) usually follows a favorable course. Very rarely, however, multi-system (multi-organ) LCH difficult to manage either with traditional first line treatment (vinblastine, mercaptopurine, prednisone or etoposide) or 2-chlorodeoxyadenosine occurs. In these patients, other treatment modalities have to be used. We describe a patient with LCH manifesting with generalized lymphadenopathy and infiltrating the pulmonary parenchyma and skin. The disease activity was always associated with B-symptoms (weight loss, subfebrile states, night sweats). Histological investigations repeatedly showed higher proliferation activity than that usual in adult patients with LCH. Expression of Ki-67 proliferation marker was up to 30% and there were 8-10 cells in mitosis in the microscope viewing field. Therefore, therapy started with the application of stimulation regimen (cyclophosphamide 2 g/m2 on day 1 and etoposide 200 mg/m2 on days 1-3) followed by collection of peripheral blood stem cells. Then, treatment with 2-chlorodeoxyadenosine, the first 3 cycles as monotherapy of 5 mg/m2 SC on days 1-5 in 28-day cycles, the next 3 cycles in combination with cyclophosphamide 150 mg/m2 on days 1-5 and methylprednisolone 250 mg on days 1-5, was used. However, the disease relapsed 2 months after completion of the therapy. This early relapse was treated with 4 cycles of CHOEP chemotherapy (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, etoposide, prednisone). Following the 4th cycle of CHOEP, high-dose BEAM chemotherapy (carmustine, etoposide, cytarabine, melphalan) with autologous stem cell transplantation were administered. According to the follow-up PET-CT examination, this treatment resulted in complete disease remission. However, the disease relapsed again in the lymph nodes, lungs, skin and bones 5 months after the high-dose chemotherapy. The progression was documented on PET-CT scanning. Lenalidomide 25 mg daily for 21 days in 28-day cycles with dexamethasone 20 mg once a week were administered as the 4th line treatment. After the 4th cycle of lenalidomide, PET-CT was performed, where the CT component suggested a significant reduction (more than 50%) in the size of the lymph nodes and the PET component showed substantial reduction in fluorodeoxyglucose accumulation in the affected lymph nodes as well as in the bone lesions. HRCT showed disappearance of pulmonary nodules. During the treatment, CRP levels declined and hemoglobin rose from 110 to 141 g/l, i.e. partial remission was achieved after 4 cycles. Etoposide (100 mg IV) was added to lenalidomide and dexamethasone on days 22, 23 and 24 of the above mentioned 28-day cycle. The added etoposide further intensified treatment response. In all, 11 cycles of this chemotherapy were given, resulting in complete remission confirmed by follow-up PET-CT. The achieved remission was consolidated using allogeneic bone marrow transplantation after FLAMSA reduced intensity conditioning without amsacrine. Four months after allogeneic transplantation, the patient has been relapse free. Herein we presented treatment response of highly aggressive LCH to lenalidomide. The used four cycles led to partial remission only and with the combination of lenalidomide, dexamethasone and etoposide the treatment response was further intensified to complete remission.

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Copyright of Transfusiology & Haematology Today / Transfuze a Hematologie Dnes is the property of Czech Medical Association of JE Purkyne and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)