Heinz Albert Duerk

St. Barbara-Klinik Hamm · Hematology Oncology

Background Elotuzumab plus lenalidomide and dexamethasone has shown improved progression-free and overall survival versus lenalidomide and dexamethasone in patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. We aimed to assess these regimens in patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma who are ineligible for haematopoietic stem-cell transpl...

Early results of the randomized placebo-controlled SORAML trial showed that, in patients with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), sorafenib led to a significant improvement in event-free (EFS) and relapse-free survival (RFS). In order to describe second-line treatments and their implications on overall survival (OS), we performed a study...

Objective A post hoc subgroup analysis of two phase III trials (NCT00416273, NCT00416208) was carried out to investigate the influence of 100/140 and 200 mg/m² melphalan as well as single/double autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) on progression-free survival (PFS). Additionally, the effect of bortezomib consolidation on PFS was analyzed....

Background: Preservation of kidney function in newly diagnosed (ND) multiple myeloma (MM) helps to prevent excess toxicity. Patients (pts) from two prospective trials were analyzed, provided postinduction (PInd) restaging was performed. Pts received three cycles with bortezomib (btz), cyclophosphamide, and dexamethasone (dex; VCD) or btz, lenalido...

8521 Background: High-dose chemotherapy (HDT) followed by autologous stem cell transplant (SCT) remains a standard of care in patients (pts) with newly diagnosed (ND) multiple myeloma (MM). While lenalidomide (R) maintenance is acknowledged to improve outcomes, intensified consolidation (such as tandem-SCT) has yielded conflicting results. Allogene...

The prospective randomized Positron Emission Tomography (PET)‐Guided Therapy of Aggressive Non‐Hodgkin Lymphomas (PETAL) trial was designed to test the ability of interim PET (iPET) to direct therapy. As reported previously, outcome remained unaffected by iPET‐based treatment changes. In this subgroup analysis, we studied the prognostic value of ba...

Introduction The kidney is an important target organ in plasma cell dyscrasias, subjected to various mechanisms of injury such as tubular obstruction, hypercalcemia, and pre-existing disease. Preservation of kidney function in newly diagnosed (ND) multiple myeloma (MM) is of concern as treatment-related toxicity (for instance infections and mucosit...

Objective: A post-hoc analysis of two phase III trials was carried out to explore the influence of age and treatment factors on the effect of bortezomib consolidation on progression-free survival (PFS) post-autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT). Methods: Patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma were assigned to one of two trials (Cli...

Introduction High-dose chemotherapy and stem cell transplant (SCT) remains a standard of care in medically fit patients (pts) with newly diagnosed (ND) MM. Induction triplets with at least one of the newer compounds are recommended. Bortezomib (V), lenalidomide (R) and dexamethasone (D; VRD) ranks among the most effective regimens and VRD/SCT was s...

Background: Recipients of autologous haemopoietic stem-cell transplants (auto-HSCT) have an increased risk of herpes zoster and herpes zoster-related complications. The aim of this study was to establish the efficacy and safety of an inactivated varicella zoster vaccine for the prevention of herpes zoster after auto-HSCT. Methods: In this random...

7501 Background: This multicenter, randomized, phase III study compared B-R and CHOP-R as first-line treatment in patients (pts) with indolent lymphomas or mantle cell lymphoma and was first published in The Lancet in 2013. The final analysis demonstrated a significantly prolonged progression-free survival (PFS) in the B-R group compared to the CHO...

Leukemia accepted article preview online, 15 March 2017. doi:10.1038/leu.2017.83.

Background High-dose therapy (HDT) with autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) is the established standard-of-care for patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (NDMM) who are young and/or fit. The number of older patients receiving HDT-ASCT is increasing, although they often receive lower-intensity treatment. Novel agent-based consolidat...

Introduction: The PETAL trial is a multicenter randomized controlled study for patients with aggressive lymphomas of diverse histologies (EudraCT 2006-001641-33, NCT00554164). In the study population as a whole interim PET (iPET) reliably predicted time to treatment failure (TTTF) and overall survival (OS). Interim PET-based treatment changes, howe...

Background: Preclinical data and results from non-randomised trials suggest that the multikinase inhibitor sorafenib might be an effective drug for the treatment of acute myeloid leukaemia. We investigated the efficacy and tolerability of sorafenib versus placebo in addition to standard chemotherapy in patients with acute myeloid leukaemia aged 60...

Background: This multicenter, randomized, phase III study compared B-R and CHOP-R as first-line treatment in patients (pts) with indolent lymphomas or MCL and was presented at ASH 2009, ASCO 2012, and published in The Lancet in 2013. The final published analysis at a median follow-up of 45 months demonstrated a significantly prolonged progression-f...

Background: The StiL Study NHL 7-2008 investigates the role of maintenance duration with rituximab after induction with bendamustine-rituximab (B-R) for first-line treatment of advanced follicular (FL), other indolent lymphoma, or mantle cell lymphoma. Methods: Patients (pts) with FL were treated with a maximum of 6 cycles of B-R (bendamustine 90 m...

Background: Rituximab plus chemotherapy, most often CHOP (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone), is the first-line standard of care for patients with advanced indolent lymphoma, and for elderly patients with mantle-cell lymphoma. Bendamustine plus rituximab is effective for relapsed or refractory disease. We compared bendamus...

2724 Background The NHL 1 study, a prospective, multicenter, randomized, phase 3 study which compared B-R and CHOP-R as first-line treatment in indolent lymphomas and mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), demonstrated a significant benefit in progression-free survival (PFS) as well as improved tolerability for B-R compared with CHOP-R. Here we present an an...

3 Background: This multicenter, randomized, phase III study compared B-R and CHOP-R as first-line treatment in indolent lymphoma and MCL and was presented at ASH 2009 including a comprehensive safety analysis. Here we present an updated analysis with a cut-off date for 31 Oct 2011. Methods: 549 patients (pts) with indolent or MCL were randomized to...

3 The full, final text of this abstract will be available at abstract.asco.org at 12:01 AM (EDT) on Sunday, June 3, 2012, and in the Annual Meeting Proceedings online supplement to the June 20, 2012, issue of Journal of Clinical Oncology. Onsite at the Meeting, this abstract will be printed in the Sunday edition of ASCO Daily News.

3434 Introduction Several clinical trials established treatment with horse ATG (hATG) and cyclosporine A (CsA) as standard treatment of AA in patients (pts) who are not candidates for stem cell transplantation (SCT). In 2007 the hATG brand Lymphoglobulin® was withdrawn from the market. As the hATG brand ATGAM®, is not approved in Europe, hATG was...

Chemotherapy for elderly patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) results in a median overall survival (OS) of ≤ 1 year. Elderly patients often present with cardiac comorbidity. Gemtuzumab ozogamicin (GO) is active in elderly (≥ 60 years) patients with relapsed AML with low cardiac toxicity. This randomized phase II study compared a standard comb...

553 Background: Sensorial peripheral neuropathy (PNP) is a major limitation for pts receiving oxaliplatin-based ctx for CRC. Pregabalin is widely used for treatment of oxaliplatin-induced PNP. We evaluated the efficacy of pregabalin vs. placebo for the prevention of paresthesia from the onset of oxaliplatin-based ctx over each cycle. Methods: Rd, d...

335 Purpose Standard chemotherapy for elderly patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) results in a median overall survival of only </= 1 year. Considerable numbers of elderly patients with AML present with cardiac comorbidity rendering the use of daunorubicin (DNR) containing chemotherapy regimens hazardous. Gemtuzumab ozogamicin (GO) is active...

Introduction: Bone disease is a hallmark of multiple myeloma. It is associated with bone pain, fractures, hypercalcemia and has major impacts on quality of life. Before lytic lesions become apparent, a high rate of bone resorption is already existent in the majority of the patients. The standard in asymptomatic multiple myeloma is “wait and see”. D...

2687 Poster Board II-663 Background The addition of Rituximab to standard chemotherapy has substantially improved the prognosis of NHL. Over the last years, a trend towards intensified protocols with multiple applications of Rituximab has been observed. We are able to report a unique cohort that has also been treated with only 1 or 3 courses of Ri...

131 Introduction Autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) after cytoreductive induction is considered standard of care for younger patients (pts) with multiple myeloma (MM). The previous standard of induction, the Vincristin-Adriamycin-Dexamethasone (VAD) combination, achieves inferior results compared with induction regimens which combine the...

405 Introduction: Promising results have been observed in two phase-II studies evaluating the combination of Bendamustine plus Rituximab (B-R) in patients with relapsed/refractory indolent or mantle cell lymphomas (Rummel et al., JCO 2005; Robinson et al., JCO 2008). In order to further investigate the role of the combination B-R we initiated a mul...

Background: Promising results have been observed in our previous phase-II study evaluating the combination of Bendamustine plus Rituximab (B-R) in patients with relapsed/refractory indolent or mantle cell lymphomas. An overall response rate (ORR) of 90%, including a 60% rate of complete remissions (CR) was documented. Objective: In October 2003, we...

Introduction. Autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) after cytoreductive induction is considered standard of care for younger patients (pts) with multiple myeloma (MM). However, 40% of pts fail to achieve remission to standard cytotoxic regimens obviously necessitating improvement. Bortezomib (Vel) is considered the most potent single agent MM...

Background: Promising results have been observed in our previous phase-II study evaluating the combination of Bendamustine plus Rituximab (B-R) in patients with relapsed/refractory indolent or mantle cell lymphomas. An overall response rate (ORR) of 90%, including a 60% rate of complete remissions (CR) was documented. Objective: In October 2003 we...

The aim of this phase II trial was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a combination chemotherapy containing irinotecan (CPT-11) and carboplatin as first-line treatment of patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC). From December 2002 to May 2004 61 patients with limited disease (IASLC classification) were enrolled who were not suitable for con...

19511 Background: Application of peg-f is recommended on day 2 of chemotherapy, but later application has not been studied. Objective: To compare the effects of peg-f given on day 4 instead of day 2 on the endpoints feasibility, leukocyte counts, rate of infections and therapy-associated deaths after CHOP-14 with and without rituximab (R). Methods:...

Treatment standards are changing as a result of new findings in the therapy of multiple myeloma. So far, prednisone, dexamethasone and interferon-a have mainly been used as maintenance therapy after achieving remission or stable disease. At present, thalidomide is being considered as a new therapeutic option in several studies investigating mainten...

We investigated the combination of docetaxel and cisplatin as first-line chemotherapy in patients with metastatic esophageal cancer. 16 chemotherapy-naïve patients with distant metastases were included in the study (15 male, 1 female; median age: 58.5 years (range 37-69); median ECOG performance status: 1). 11 patients (69%) had esophageal cancer,...

The aim of this multicenter-study was to evaluate the progression-free survival, response rate and toxicity of the combination of bendamustine and rituximab (BR) in patients with mantle cell or low-grade lymphomas in first to third relapse or refractory to previous treatment. A total of 245 courses (median, four courses per patient) were administer...

Purpose: The combination of chemotherapy with the chimeric anti-CD20 antibody Rituximab has been reported to be highly active in the treatment of follicular lymphoma. The frequency and dosage of rituximab required to induce the maximum effect in follicular NHL is not defined. To evaluate how often rituximab should be added to standard chemotherapy...

To evaluate whether cisplatin-based chemotherapy (gemcitabine, vinorelbine, and cisplatin [GVP]) prolongs overall survival in comparison to cisplatin-free chemotherapy (gemcitabine and vinorelbine [GV]) as first-line treatment in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Between September 1999 and June 2001, 300 patients with NSCLC...

The aim of this pilot study was to evaluate the activity and toxicity of docetaxel plus carboplatin as second-line treatment in patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Patients received docetaxel 75 mg/m(2) followed by carboplatin AUC 5 on day 1 every 3 weeks in an out-patient setting. Twenty-six patients were enrolled; 23 pati...

The purpose of this phase II trial was to investigate the efficacy and safety of a combination chemotherapy with gemcitabine, vinorelbine and cisplatin in the first-line treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Patients with NSCLC stage IIIB or IV disease received 1000 mg/m(2) gemcitabine and 25 mg/m(2) vinorelbine on days 1 and 8...

Based on in vitro data suggesting a synergystic antitumor-activity of topoisomerase I- and II-inhibitors we designed a new combination therapy to improve the results of previous studies with topotecan in myeloid leukemias. In the ongoing prospective multicentre phase II study up to now 72 patients (pts) were enrolled, 59 pts were analysed for patie...

The purpose of this phase II study was to investigate the efficacy and safety of gemcitabine plus vinorelbine as first-line chemotherapy in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Eligibility criteria included cytologically or histologically confirmed NSCLC (stage IIIB or IV), no previous chemotherapy, and bidimensionally measura...

There is an increasing demand for platelet transfusions and it remains an ongoing challenge for most blood centers to maintain an adequate platelet inventory. Platelet transfusions doubled in the US and in Canada from 1980 to 1987[1-3]. Between 1989 and 1992 the number of platelet concentrates decreased in the US by 8.9 % while the number of aphere...

Wir berichten über drei Patienten mit rheumatoider Arthritis (RA), die unter einer wöchentlichen Methotrexat-(MTX)-Therapie multiple vaskulitische Hautveränderungen an den Nagelfalzen und periungual aufwiesen. Die Hautläsionen traten trotz guten Ansprechens der Gelenksymptomatik auf das Medikament nach 33, 18 bzw. 7 Monaten auf. In allen Fällen bil...

Very few patients with Behçet's disease (BD) have been treated with interferon alpha (IFN alpha) or interferon gamma (IFN gamma) to date. We report the successful longterm treatment of a female German patient with erosive arthritis and posterior uveitis with IFN alpha and IFN gamma sequentially and in combination.

Behçet's disease (BD) is a multisystem vasculitis of unknown origin. In this retrospective study we analyzed the therapy of 32 patients seen between 1978 and 1993 at the Departments of Rheumatology, Ophthalmology, and Dermatology of the Tübingen University Clinic. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of different therapeutic strategie...

During the last few years, the association of mixed cryoglobulinemia with chronic viral infections has gained increasing interest. Chronic hepatitis C seems to play a major role. As alpha-interferon is an established therapy for chronic hepatitis C, it was also tried successfully in cryoglobulinemia type II, associated with chronic hepatitis C viru...

We report the occurrence of bilateral sacroiliitis in 2 cases of biopsy-proven sarcoidosis. Tuberculosis was excluded by tuberculin testing and bronchoalveolar lavage in both cases. In the literature, 5 cases of sacroiliitis and sarcoidosis have thus far been described, but in all tuberculosis was not excluded (tuberculin testing was not performed...

Behçet's disease (BD) is a systemic disease of unknown etiology, characterized by multiple organ involvement. Although its incidence is high in the Mediterranean countries and in Japan, BD is not often found in German patients. We therefore compared the epidemiological and clinical involvement of BD in 39 patients of German and of Mediterranean ori...

Five magnetic resonance (MR) studies of the lower leg were performed in three patients with eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome (EMS). The 1H spectroscopic and imaging findings were compared with seven examinations of age-matched healthy controls. Standard imaging with proton density-, T1-, and T2-weighted spin-echo (SE) sequences at 1.5 T showed marked...

Amyloidosen sind durch streng extrazelluläre Ablagerungen fibrillärer Proteine mit β-Falt-blattstruktur gekennzeichnet. Die primären AL-Amyloidosen werden durch Ablagerungen modifizierter leichter Ketten von Immunglobulinen verursacht (Glenner 1980).

1,1,1-Trichloroethane (TCE) is a widely used industrial solvent of low acute toxicity. It is slowly oxidized to trichloroethanol and trichloroacetic acid by cytochrome P-450-dependent mono-oxygenases. Increased inhalative uptake by rats under hypoxia and spin-trapping experiments indicate that TCE is also reductively metabolized to a radical interm...

Corneal and conjunctival biopsies of 13 patients with rheumatoid arthritis and corneal ulceration (RA-keratomalacia) have been characterized by immunohistological and histochemical analysis. Biopsies from 13 patients with bacterial conjunctivitis, 7 patients with allergic conjunctivitis, 15 patients with senile cataract and 15 patients with keratok...

Pancytopenia and interstitial pneumonia occurred in a 70-year-old woman with psoriatic arthritis and compensated renal insufficiency while she was being treated with low doses of the folic-acid antagonist methotrexate (5 mg weekly). Despite the administration of platelets, red blood cells, antibiotics, acyclovir and folinic acid (100 mg daily), the...

Bei einer 70jährigen Patientin mit Arthritis psoriatica und kompensierter Niereninsuffizienz kam es während einer niedrig dosierten Therapie mit dem Folsäureantagonisten Methotrexat (5 mg pro Woche) zu einer Panzytopenie mit hypozellulärem Knochenmark und zu einer interstitiellen Pneumonie. Trotz Substitution von Thrombozyten und Erythrozyten, eine...