Fludarabine in patients with advanced and/or resistant B‐chronic lymphocytic leukemia

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Abstract
In this study, we evaluated the efficacy of fludarabine (FLU), an adenine nucleoside analogue, in 35 previously treated patients with advanced and progressed B‐cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B‐CLL) and in 6 at diagnosis. All patients were treated at a dose of 25 mg/m2 per day for 5 consecutive days (mean number of courses was 5, with a range from 4 to 6). The majority of patients experienced a beneficial effect on hematological parameters. In particular, a remarkable reduction of lymphocyte count together with an increase of neutrophils and platelets was observed. The overall response rate was 42% with 1 complete response and 16 partial responses. Ten patients achieved minor responses and the remaining 14 showed no benefit from treatment. An increased response rate was achieved in 6 untreated patients who showed an overall response rate of 67% (4/6). The major complications observed were neutropenia (66%) and febrile episodes (44%) that were generally infection‐related and were fatal in 3 cases. Because we were dealing with patients whose disease was advanced and/or resistant to treatment, the overall results may be considered encouraging with acceptable toxic reactions not superior to those frequently observed with polychemotherapy.