Single centre study of using bendamustine in the treatment of B-cell malignancies

Objective: To evaluate the experience of bendamustine in the treatment of B-cell malignancies at a tertiary care centre. Methods: The retrospective descriptive analysis included data of all adult patients with B-cell malignancies treated with bendamustine from 2009 to 2011 at the Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi. Data was analysed using SPSS 17.0. Frequencies and percentages were computed for baseline characteristics, responses and toxicities. Results: Of the 19 patients 15 (79%) were males and 4 (21%) were females. The mean age was 59.53±12.14 (with a range of 46-86). Eight (42%) had follicular lymphoma, 6 (32%) had mantle cell lymphoma, 2 (11%) had diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, and 3 (16%) had chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. Four (21%) patients experienced grades 3 and 4 cutaneous toxicities. Eight (42%) patients were treated with bendamustine as first-line therapy. Six of them (75%) were included for response evaluation; 3 (50%) had complete response, and 3 (50%) had partial response. Eleven (58%) patients had relapsed disease out of which 3 (27.27%) had complete response, and 7 (63.63%) had partial response, whereas 1 (9%) had disease progression. Conclusion: Bendamustine given as monotherapy or in combination is safe and useful in the treatment of patients with B-cell malignancies.