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The article discusses a study which examined the efficacy of lenalidomide in the treatment of patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). The study investigated a group of patients who received lenalidomide monotherapy and lenalidomide combination therapy. The researchers determined the patients' overall response rates (ORR), duration of response, progression-free survival (PFS), and abnormalities in laboratory data and adverse events (AEs).

Clinical trial results indicate that lenalidomide, an immunomodulatory drug, is a promising treatment in relapsed/refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). This retrospective multicenter study was conducted in patients with relapsed/refractory NHL treated with lenalidomide monotherapy through a Named Patient Program in Italy. Principal endpoints were overall response rate (ORR), safety and overall survival (OS). The ORR in 64 evaluable patients was 42.2% and was similar among patients receiving 10, 15 or 25 mg/day lenalidomide. Response rates in patients with mantle cell, diffuse large B-cell and follicular lymphoma were 45.5%, 42.1% and 20%, respectively. Among patients who responded to most recent prior therapy, ORR was 50.0% versus 36.8% in patients with refractory NHL. Mean duration of response in patients receiving any lenalidomide dose was 10.5 months; 1-year progression-free survival and OS were 50.3% and 82.6%, respectively. These findings suggest that lenalidomide is effective and safe for heavily pretreated patients with NHL in the clinical setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The introduction of high-dose (HD) chemotherapy (CT) and autologous stem cell (ASCT) or bone marrow transplant (ABMT) in the last two decades has improved the prognosis of patients with refractory or relapsed Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) over conventional-dose salvage CT. To evaluate the outcome of adult patients with HL treated with HD CT and ASCT or ABMT after failure or relapse from first-line treatment with CT ± radiotherapy, we report the results of a retrospective analysis in 82 consecutive patients given HD CT and autologous transplant as second-line therapy between October 1984 and December 2006. Thirty-two patients were given sequential high-dose cytoreductive therapy while 50 received other conventional induction regimens. Seventy-three patients with chemoresponsive disease underwent the myeloablative phase, while eight patients had progressive disease during cytoreductive CT. After a median follow-up of 73 months, the 10-year progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were 57% and 51%, respectively. According to response to first-line treatment, PFS and OS were, respectively, 54% and 82% for patients with complete remission (CR) lasting 12 months or more; 49% and 51% for patients with CR less than 12 months; and 47% and 50% for patients who never achieved CR or progressed during first-line CT (induction failure). Response to cytoreductive CT significantly influenced outcome, with PFS and OS being, respectively, 56% and 68% vs. 44% and 47% ( p = 0.009) in patients in CR versus patients not in CR after induction therapy. Treatment was well tolerated, and therapy related mortality was only 3.7%. These long-term results confirm that HD CT and ASCT or ABMT was feasible, safe, and very effective. Therefore, this therapeutic strategy may represent an active salvage approach even in the unfavorable group of patients with induction failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]