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Background: The public subsidy in Australia of bortezomib (Velcade) for untreated non-transplant multiple myeloma patients was based on the VISTA trial., Aims: To ascertain the health outcomes of bortezomib in 'real world' transplant-ineligible elderly patients, compared to trial data., Methods: Patient and treatment data were extracted from an oncology information system, laboratory information system and medical chart audits for three Queensland public hospitals., Results: We identified 74 patients; the median age was 75 years. Our cohort comprised 47% patients who were International Staging System stage III, 45% at stage II and 8% at stage I. Patients who had comorbidities, such as cardiac disease (41%), pulmonary disease (14%), diabetes (22%), peripheral neuropathy (14%) and other comorbidities (41%) at baseline were included. The common regimens prescribed were VMP, CVD and VD, and most patients (n = 73) received bortezomib on a once-weekly or twice-a-week basis. The overall response rate was 81%. Half (53%) of the patients did not complete their planned therapy due to toxicity (30%), suboptimal response or disease progression (15%), or death on treatment (8%). Overall survival was 40.7 months and progression free survival was 17.7 months., Conclusions: Our patients were older, had worse disease characteristics and more comorbidities than patients in the VISTA trial. While response rates were similar, survival outcomes appeared worse. Bortezomib-based treatment in the real world setting still carries a high risk of toxicity in the elderly population., (© 2020 Royal Australasian College of Physicians.)

De novo diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) presenting with synchronous central nervous system (CNS) and systemic disease (synDLBCL) is not well described and is excluded from clinical trials. We performed a retrospective analysis of 80 synDLBCL patients treated across 10 Australian and UK centres. Of these patients, 96% had extranodal systemic disease. CNS-directed treatment with combination intravenous cytarabine and high-dose methotrexate ("CNS-intensive") (n = 38) was associated with favourable survival outcomes compared with "CNS-conservative" strategies such as intravenous high-dose methotrexate monotherapy, intrathecal therapy and/or radiotherapy (2-year progression-free survival [PFS] 50% vs. 31%, P = 0·006; 2-year overall survival [OS] 54% vs. 44%, P = 0·037). Outcomes were primarily dictated by the ability to control the CNS disease, with 2-year cumulative CNS relapse incidence of 42% and non-CNS relapse 21%. Two-year OS for CNS-relapse patients was 13% vs. 36% for non-CNS relapses (P = 0·02). Autologous stem cell transplantation as consolidation (n = 14) was not observed to improve survival in those patients who received CNS-intensive induction when matched for induction outcomes (2-year PFS 69% vs. 56%, P = 0·99; 2-year OS 66% vs. 56%, P = 0·98). Hyperfractionated or infusional systemic treatment did not improve survival compared to R-CHOP (rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, prednisolone) (2-year OS 49% for both groups). Our study suggests that adequate control of the CNS disease is paramount and is best achieved by intensive CNS-directed induction., (© 2019 British Society for Haematology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)