Biomedical subjects

David A Rizzieri

Publications and source records attributed to David A Rizzieri.

23 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMed2002

Mobilization of dendritic cells from patients with breast cancer into peripheral blood stem cell leukapheresis samples using Flt-3-Ligand and G-CSF or GM-CSF.

Treatment with myeloablative chemotherapy and autologous peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) transplantation followed by vaccination with autologous dendritic cells (DCs) treated with tumor antigens is a promising therapeutic strategy for several types of cancer. Obtaining sufficient numbers of both PBSCs and DCs is central to this approach. Previously, it has been shown that administration of Flt-3-Ligand (FL) combined with either G-CSF or GM-CSF mobilizes large numbers of PBSCs in patients with cancer. In the current study, we sought to determine whether these same cytokines could simultaneously mobilize DCs into the PBSC leukapheresis collection. DCs were analysed in PBSC leukapheresis samples obtained from five patients with high-risk breast cancer who received G-CSF alone as priming prior to leukapheresis, four patients who received FL+G-CSF and five patients who received FL+GM-CSF. DCs were defined as cells with a lin(dim/-) HLA-DR+ CD11c+ phenotype. The proportions of DCs in the FL+G-CSF and FL+GM-CSF samples were significantly higher than in pre-mobilization peripheral blood and G-CSF leukapheresis samples. The mean yield of DCs/kg in the FL+GM-CSF samples was also significantly higher than the mean yield of DCs in the G-CSF samples. The FL+G-CSF and FL+GM-CSF mobilized DCs were immature by morphologic and phenotypic criteria but stimulated allogeneic T-cells at levels similar to DCs generated in culture from PBMCs. Overnight culture?of the immature DCs obtained from patients receiving either FL+G-CSF or FL+GM-CSF in TNF-alpha?resulted in the generation of mature DCs. In summary, administration of FL in combination with GM-CSF and G-CSF to patients with breast cancer can mobilize large numbers of immature DCs into PBSC leukapheresis collections.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗

PubMed2002

Phase I evaluation of prolonged-infusion gemcitabine with mitoxantrone for relapsed or refractory acute leukemia.

PURPOSE: To ascertain the maximum tolerated duration of infusion of gemcitabine at 10 mg/m(2)/min in combination with mitoxantrone at 12 mg/m(2) daily for 3 days in the treatment of acute leukemia. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Thirty-four patients were enrolled. Stratum I consisted of 26 patients, median age 50 years (range, 25 to 71 years), with relapsed or refractory leukemia. Stratum II contained eight patients, median age 62.5 years (range, 38 to 83 years), who had received fewer than three cycles of myelotoxic therapy for chronic myeloid leukemia or myelodysplasia that had evolved into leukemia. Patients received mitoxantrone at 12 mg/m(2) daily for 3 days. After the first mitoxantrone dose, gemcitabine was provided intravenously at 10 mg/m(2)/min with the duration adjusted by following a continuous reassessment model. RESULTS: Severe myelosuppression, and stomatitis or esophagitis were the most common hematologic and nonhematologic dose-limiting toxicities. Several patients developed febrile neutropenia, nausea, or vomiting. In both strata, the maximum recommended duration of infusion of gemcitabine was 12 hours (7,200 mg/m(2)). The mean steady-state concentration of gemcitabine was 24.72 micromol/L and varied over a fivefold range among patients. Overall response rates in this phase I trial for strata I and II were 42% and 63%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Prolonged-infusion gemcitabine at a fixed dose rate of 10 mg/m(2)/min for 12 hours with 12 mg/m(2)/d mitoxantrone for 3 days is a tolerable induction regimen and achieves plasma concentrations sufficient for maximal intracellular activation. Stomatitis or esophagitis should be anticipated; however, this regimen may induce significant responses in patients with difficult-to-treat leukemias.

Acute Disease↗

PubMed2002

Nonmyeloablative regimen preserves "niches" allowing for peripheral expansion of donor T-cells.

T-cell recovery following myeloablative preparatory regimens and cord blood transplantation in adult patients gen erally occurs between 1 and 3 years following allogeneic bone marrow transplantation. T-cell reconstitution may involve thymic education of donor-derived precursors or peripheral expansion of mature T-cells transferred in the graft. We measured quantitative and qualitative immunologic reconstitution, T-cell receptor spectratyping, and T-cell receptor excision circle (TREC) levels in adult recipients of umbilical cord blood transplants following a novel nonmyeloablative regimen. These results were compared to previously published results of similar patients receiving a myeloablative regimen and cord blood stem cells. With small numbers of patients treated so far, T-cells (CD3+) reached normal levels in adults 6 to 12 months following nonmyeloablative transplantation compared with 24 months in adults receiving a myeloablative regimen. At 12 months after transplantation, the numbers of phenotypically naive (CD45RA) T-cells were higher in those receiving the nonmyeloablative regimen. The T-cell repertoire in cord blood recipients treated with a nonmyeloablative regimen was markedly more diverse and robust compared with the repertoire in those receiving the myeloablative regimen at similar time points. TRECs (which are generated within the thymus and identify new thymic emigrants and those that have not divided) were detected 12 months after transplantation in the nonmyeloablative recipients, whereas TRECs were not detected in adults until 18 to 24 months in those receiving myeloablative regimens. Thus, in adults receiving a nonmyeloablative preparatory regimen, the quantitative and qualitative recovery of T-cells occurs through rapid peripheral expansion. The ability of patients receiving a nonmyeloablative regimen to recover within a few months suggests that the peripheral niches in which T-cells can proliferate are preserved in these patients compared to those receiving ablative regimens. Moreover, the presence of TREC-positive cells within 1 year suggests that thymic recovery is likewise accelerated in non myeloablative compared to myeloablative regimens.

Cell Division↗

PubMed2002

CD52 expression in mantle cell lymphoma.

Mantle cell lymphoma is one of the most difficult to treat of all the non-Hodgkin's lymphomas. CAMPATH-1H, a humanized monoclonal antibody against the CD52 antigen, has been used with some success in other lymphoproliferative diseases, especially chronic lymphocytic leukemia. This report demonstrates that tumor samples from patients with mantle cell lymphoma express the CD52 antigen and suggests that CAMPATH-1H should be studied in patients with mantle cell lymphoma.

Aged↗

PubMed2002

Alemtuzumab in relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia and prolymphocytic leukemia.

Twenty-three adult patients with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) or prolymphocytic leukemia (PLL) were treated for up to 12 weeks with the anti-CD52 monoclonal antibody alemtuzumab. Patients were a median of six years from diagnosis and had been treated with a median of four chemotherapy regimens (median of 24 total cycles) prior to enrollment. Fourteen patients (61%) had received prior monoclonal antibody therapy with rituximab. Adverse symptoms were primarily mild to moderate fever, rigor/chills, nausea/vomiting, or fatigue/malaise in up to 86% of patients. Patients with low blood counts at the initiation of alemtuzumab tolerated therapy well. A total of 17 patients were evaluable for disease response. Nine patients (53%) responded with complete remissions in the peripheral blood. Of these nine, five were evaluated by bone marrow biopsy with four complete responses (CR) and one partial response. Six of the nine presented with nodal disease at the start of alemtuzumab therapy with three CRs and three partial responses. Alemtuzumab is a monoclonal antibody that offers effective treatment for chemotherapy refractory CLL and PLL and is generally well tolerated in the outpatient setting.

Aged↗