TREATMENT OF LYMPHOID-CELL MALIGNANCY WITH IN-114M LABELED AUTOLOGOUSLYMPHOCYTES

This paper is a preliminary report of a clinical trial for the treatme nt of patients with refractory chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, using au tologous In-114m - labelled lymphocytes. Fourteen patients have been t reated so far with doses ranging from 69 to 211 MBq. All patients had progressive low grade NHL, resistant to chemotherapy and conventional radiotherapy. Following the intravenous administration of radiolabelle d autologous lymphocytes 53% (range 33-92%) of the activity accumulate d in the spleen, 35% (21-64%) in the liver and 5% in the bone marrow T he initial response in all patients was a rapid decrease in lymphocyte count in peripheral blood. 10 of the 14 (72%) patients showed a respo nse to the treatment. In 2 patients, there was a complete response whi ch lasted 24 and 36 months respectively. 8 patients showed a partial r esponse of 2 to 17 months duration. None of the patients experienced a rty subjective toxicity although myelosuppression was seen in all pati ents. This is a novel concept for the administration of therapeutic ra diation in a selective way for the treatment of lymphoid cell malignan cy and has produced significant antitumour effect in patients with hig hly resistant disease. The trial is ongoing and a full report will be published on its completion.