• Peter Borchmann, Franck Morschhauser, Anne Parry, Roland Schnell, Jean Luc Harousseau, Christian Gisselbrecht, Christian Rudolph, Martin Wilhelm, Hans Günther, Derigs Michael Pfreundschuh, Gabriella Camboni, and Andreas Engert.
• Klinik I für Innere Medizin der Universität zu Köln, Germany.
• Haematologica. 2003 Aug 1; 88 (8): 888-94.

Background And ObjectivesBBR 2778 is a new aza-anthracenedione. Its activity against hematologic neoplasias in a mouse model is greater than that of doxorubicin or mitoxantrone. A phase-I study in patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) showed that the drug has promising anti-tumor activity. Therefore, a phase-II study in patients with relapsed aggressive NHL was initiated.Design And MethodsThe primary objective was to determine the efficacy of 85 mg/m2 BBR 2278 for a q1w x3 treatment schedule (repeat day 29). Secondary objectives included the evaluation of response duration and safety in this open-label, non-randomized, multicenter trial. Patients with relapsed aggressive NHL according to the REAL-classification were included.ResultsEight centers enrolled a total of 33 patients. The median age of these patients was 66 years (range 24-81). The majority of patients had diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (n=24) or mantle-cell lymphoma (n=7), pretreated with a median of 2 regimens. Confirmed responses included 5 complete and 4 partial remissions, with the period between the first appearance of response and any signs or symptoms of progression being up to 17+ months. The main toxicity was neutropenia.Interpretations And ConclusionsThese results indicate that 85 mg/m2 BBR 2778 in a q1w x 3 schedule is active in elderly and pretreated patients with relapsed aggressive NHL and was generally well tolerated. Thus, we recommend further clinical evaluation of this new compound in phase-III studies for the treatment of NHL.

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