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A New Post Again!     4 May, 2008, 10:28 am Sorry I have not been active blogging the last few months. As most excuses go, "Real Life" intervened. With the blog quiet, hits on the web site have gone down from a 2006 high. Maybe we can change that? I have received an inquiry to acquire the site. It could be a good thing to have an advocate with more time and energy reinvigorate things. Thoughts? ( 2 Comments )

High-Dose Sequential Chemotherapy with RituxanŽ is Superior to CHOP-R for Poor Risk Follicular Lymphoma     13 January, 2007, 07:00 pm Researchers from Italy have reported that high-dose sequential therapy with Rituxan results in a higher remission rate when compared to CHOP-R for the treatment of patients with poor risk follicular lymphoma. The details of this multicenter randomized trial were presented at the 2006 meeting of the American Society of Hematology. Patients with follicular lymphoma often receive moderate dose chemotherapy until they fail to respond. Then, many receive an autologous transplant as salvage therapy. A previous study by the same Italian researchers showed that high-dose chemotherapy produced complete molecular remissions in 61% of patients and that these patients had an 85% DFS at 54 months (see first item in related news). The current study was a randomized trial involving 136 poor risk patients with FL. They were randomly allocated to receive 6 cycles of CHOP-R or an intensive induction regimen that included 3 phases: (1) 2 APO and 2 DHAP courses, (2) etoposide cyclophosphamide and Rituxan followed by stem cell harvest and (3) high-dose chemotherapy with mitoxantrone and AlkeranŽ (melphalan) with stem cell infusion. This was a crossover study and patients who failed R-CHOP could receive Rituxan supplemented high-dose sequential chemotherapy. There were 4 toxic deaths; 2 in each arm. Disease progression occurred in 28% of the R-CHOP patients and 10% of the high-dose group. Two thirds of the patients failing R-CHOP crossed over to receive high-dose sequential therapy and 73% achieved a CR. Event-free survival at 40 months was approximately 65% for the high-dose group and 20% for the CHOP group. However, 83% of patients survived at 36 months in both arms. A stable molecular remission was achieved in 28% of R-CHOP patients and 78% of the high-dose group. Ladetto M, de Marco F, Benedetti F, et al. Clinical and molecular results of the multicenter randomized GITMO-IIL trial in poor risk follicular lymphoma (FL) at diagnosis: Rituximab-supplemented high-dose sequential chemotherapy (R-HDS) is superior to CHOP-R in molecular remissions rate, EFS and PFS. Blood 2006;108:101a, abstract 325. ( 11 Comments )

Adam Sandler Donates PS3 to Siblings with Cancer     30 December, 2006, 08:13 pm Actor Adam Sandler has sent an extra special Christmas gift for a sister and brother who are struggling with cancer. The 40 year old actor from hit films such as "Happy Gilmore", "The Longest Yard", "50 First Dates" and "Mr. Deeds," sent a PlayStation 3 loaded with games to 15-year-old and 18-year-old Stephanie & Kevin Hudon of Manchester, New Hampshire. Sandler also kindly sent signed DVDs, jerseys and an autographed "Longest Yard" poster. Stephanie Hudon has bone cancer that recently spread to her lungs. She is scheduled for surgery on January the 8th 2007. Kevin Hudon was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in November and is undergoing chemotherapy. Also aiming to help the pair, high school senior Nathan Burditt camped out 34 hours last month to buy a PlayStation 3, which he then donated as a prize in a fundraising raffle. His explanation was simple. "I've had my tough times," he said on Tuesday of medical problems that included frequent trips to a Boston hospital as a child and heart surgery last summer. As part of a wider fund raising project by the school, the $600 video game console donation sent the fundraising project to a new level. A $500 total was hoped to help the Hudon family pay some bills and buy Christmas gifts. Instead, the project raised $21,000 with one group of seventh graders raising $800 alone. Burditt won his PlayStation 3 back, albeit reluctantly, as many people buying tickets wrote his name on them. Burditt wanted to sell it and donate the money to the Hudons, but the family said no. "They had said I've already done enough. I don't really see it the same way, but I'm not going to go against what they say," he said. (PSU) ( 4 Comments )

And there was quiet, all through the house     21 December, 2006, 08:04 pm The news has been relatively quiet so I have not reported. As we head into the holiday weekend and the week before New Years, let me add my holiday wishes to you and yours. And I thank you for clicking through on the Amazon links when you shop online. This time of year it brings in a little more referral income and helps pay the web hosting fees. ( 3 Comments )

An Extreme Makeover - Website Edition Blessing     17 December, 2006, 09:16 am If you have a web site that is 12 years old and you haven't had nearly enough time to keep it up and add info, then the bare spots will show. When I was starting the site, web encoding, HTML, was centered around a now almost forgotten browser, Netscape. Screen sizes were 800x600 if you were lucky. Each Christmas break I would put in a mad rush to update the site to get pages into a more modern era but given I have a career with daily responsibilities, I have fallen behind year by year. I received e-mails from Paul in Australia the other day. He's up to date on current web coding and has generously offered to help bring the site into the 21st century. With a new layout, I can again focus on getting better and better content. And that benefits everyone. I could not think of a better holiday gift. ( 1 Comments )

Rituxan / MabThera Maintenance Therapy     14 December, 2006, 09:07 pm The last article brought up the subject of what to do once a person with low grade b-cell lymphomas reaches remission but has a possibly high likelyhood of relapse. First of all: don't panic (as with all treatment). I tell that to people who read statistics. While they help the researchers look at lots of people, they do no good to an individual who may stay perfectly healthy and in remission after their primary treatment. If not, then many secondary treatments are often available. Rituxan (MabThera in the UK) has been approved for treating many types of b-cell Non-Hodgkin's Lymphomas (NHL). There have been studies over the last 4 years looking if rituxan, given as maintenance therapy after reaching remission, may help keep a person in a lasting remission. Maintenance therapy is therapy given to help the likelyhood that you'll stay cancer-free. Looking at the literature, it seems that rituxan maintenance therapy has indeed shown to be beneficial See the following: JCO abstract 2005 & 2006 EORTC trial. The easy part is talking with your medical team to see if such a treatment is right for your particular situation. The harder part may be to convince insurance companies to pay for it. Since it is still under study, it may be possible to find a clinical trial that would pay for the expenses. In the US, the NCI has a great clinical trial finder. Update: Friday - The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) has recommended 12/15 that MabThera (brand name for rituximab in the UK) be recommended for maintenance therapy for qualified Scottish patients. article ( 2 Comments )

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