⁹⁰Yttrium Ibritumomab Tiuxetan (Zevalin) for the Treatment of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia/Small Lymphocytic Lymphoma: A Report of 5 Cases

Abstract

Radioimmunotherapy (RIT) with radio-labeled monoclonal antibodies to CD20 produces a high response rate in patients with low-grade B-cell lymphomas. The use of this modality in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) has been sporadic in clinical trials and was hampered by the extensive marrow involvement seen commonly in patients with CLL, which would produce a high risk for marrow aplasia after treatment with RIT. Herein, we report our experience with RIT in 5 patients with CLL or SLL showing short-lived responses and significant myelosuppression. After 90Y-ibritumomab tiuxetan treatment, the median time to relapse was 65 days, and no cases of MDS or AML were observed during follow-up. All patients experienced grade ≥3 thrombocytopenia and neutropenia, with median durations of 39.5 days and 107 days, respectively.

Keywords:

• CD20
• chronic lymphocytic leukemia
• small lymphocytic lymphoma
• radioimmunotherapy
• targeted irradiation
• Zevalin

Ethics Statement

All five patients provided written informed consent to publish their case details. All patient information has been de-identified to maintain confidentiality. The Mayo Clinic Institutional Review Board, in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act guidelines of 1996, approved the study.

Disclosure

Dr Han W Tun reports grants from Acrotech Biopharma, during the conduct of the study. The authors report no other conflicts of interest in this work.