Therapy with Gemcitabine in pretreated peripheral T-cell lymphoma patients

Background: Gemcitabine is a novel nucleoside analogue which has shown prom ising results in most solid tumors; like the arabinosylcytosine analogue, g emcitabine may be an active drug in lymphoproliferative malignancies. We te sted it in pre treated peripheral T-cell lymphoma patients with isolated sk in involvement. Patients and methods: We performed a phase II study with the drug in 13 pre treated patients with peripheral T-cell lymphoma, five of whom had advanced -stage mycosis fungoides (MF), and eight peripheral T-cell lymphoma unspeci fied (PTCLU). Patients were treated on days 1, 8, and 15 of a 28-day schedu le at the dosage of 1200 mg/m(2) for a total of three courses. Results: Of the 13 patients, one achieved complete response (CR) and eight achieved partial responses (PR); the remaining four showed no benefit from the treatment. Among the responders, one CR and four PR were documented in the PTCLU patients and four PR in MF patients. Treatment was well tolerated ; hematologic toxicity was mild and no nausea/vomiting or organ toxicity wa s recorded. Conclusions: In view of its significant activity and its modest toxicity pr ofile, the role of gemcitabine deserves further evaluation in the managemen t of pretreated patients with peripheral T-cell lymphoma.