Pegylated Liposomal Doxorubicin, Bleomycin, Vinblastine and Dacarbazine (CBVD) in the Treatment of Advanced Primary Cutaneous Lymphomas.

Primary cutaneous lymphomas (PCL) present in the majority of histologic variants an indolent behaviour and a good prognosis with a prolonged survival. In a very small number of patients (pts), PCL is aggressive at the onset while in pts who are resistant or have relapsed after repeated topic or systemic therapies an advanced disease is more frequently observed. In these patients no therapy is capable of inducing a stable remission of the disease. The efficacy and low toxicity of Pegylated Liposomal Doxorubicin (PLD) as a single agent in second-line therapy of PCL was recently demonstrated. In our study we tested the safety and efficacy of PLD (Caelyx^®) (C) in association with three drugs of proven effectiveness in nodal lymphoprolipherative and other primary cutaneous neoplastic disorders: Bleomycin (B), Vinblastine (B) and Dacarbazine (D) (CBVD).

From February 2003 to December 2008 we observed 37 consecutive pts with advanced PCL: 19 Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphomas (CTCL) and 18 cutaneous B-Cell Lymphomas (CBCL). The CTCL pts were: 15 males and 4 females, with median age 59 (27-86) years, of which 7 pts with Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma (ALCL) CD30 positive, 7 pts with transformed Mycosis Fungoides (tMF), 3 pts with CD30 negative ALCL, 1pt with Panniculitis-like (Pl) Lymphoma and 1 pt with transformed Sezary Syndrome (tSS), according to the WHO-EORTC consensus classification. Nine pts presented with a nodal involvement and 10 pts were resistant or relapsed after 1 or more systemic treatments. Among the CBCL pts there were: 8 males and 10 females, with median age 61 (42-84) years, 12 pts had a Follicular Centre Lymphoma (FCL), 3 a Marginal Zone Lymphoma (MZL) and 3 a Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma Leg Type (LT). Five pts presented a nodal involvement and 11 pts had received 1 or more previous systemic therapy. All 37 pts received CBVD therapy at following dosage: C: 20 mg/m², B: 10 mg/m², V: 6 mg/m², D: 325 mg/m² at days 1 and 15, administered intravenously every 4 weeks for a maximum of 6 cycles. Rituximab (R) at dosage of 375 mg/m² was administered to CBCL pts at 1^st day of each cycle. Before the treatment, pts were submitted to a complete staging of disease including TC-scan, bone marrow biopsy, and immunophenotyping of peripheral blood cells.

In the CTCL group 4 pts received 4 CBVD cycles, 14 pts received 6 CBVD cycles and 1 pt presented a progressive disease after the 1^st cycle. Overall Response Rate (ORR) was 94.7% (18/19 pts). Sixteen out of 18 pts (88.8%) had a Complete Remission (CR) with disappearance of nodal involvement and cutaneous lesions, 2/18 pts obtained a Partial Remission (PR) with disappearance of nodal involvement and 75% of cutaneous lesions. In the CBCL group 3 pts received 2 R-CBVD cycles, 3 pts 4 cycles and 11 pts 6 cycles: ORR was 100% and all pts obtained a CR. The occurrence of palmoplantar erytrodisesthesia in 5 pts and grade 2-3 granulocytopenia in 12 pts did not modify the therapy program. Two CTCL pts (1 tSS, 1Pl) and 1 CBCL (LT) pt in CR after therapy received an allogeneic Hemopoietic Stem Cells (HCS) transplant and 1 CBCL(FCL) pt a syngeneic HCS transplant. In CTCL group 11 (61%) pts maintained their response after a median follow up of 15.5 (9-71) months. Among CBCL pts 14 (77.7%) pts are still in CR after a median follow up of 15 (4-36) months.

Our experience demonstrates that the CBVD association is an effective and safe therapy for advanced PCL in inducing an important tumour burden reduction with a high CR rate. The assessment of response duration requires a longer observation. A larger number of patients in a multicentric trial are needed to confirm our promising results.

Off Label Use: liposomial doxorubicin has a peculiar cutaneous tropism and low cardiac toxicity compared with other anthracyclines.