Leukemia Research 36 (2012) 709–714 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Leukemia Research jo ur nal homep age: www.elsevier.com/locate/leukres Clinical experience of bendamustine treatment for non-Hodgkin lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia in Spain Blanca Sanchez-Gonzalez a,* , F. Javier Pe˜ nalver b , Angeles Medina c , Helga Guillén d , Marta Calleja d , Mercedes Gironella e , Reyes Arranz f , Elena Sebastian g , Raquel de O˜ na h , Araceli Cánovas i , Ignacio de la Fuente g , Carlos Grande j , Juan Manuel Sancho k , Ricardo Perez l , Eva Domingo m , José Luis Lopez-Lorenzo n , Elena Prieto n , Carlos Panizo o , Ana Gorosquieta p , Inmaculada Perez q , Jose Manuel Cervera r , Miguel Marin s , Carmen Mencha t , Elena Ramila u , Antonio Salar a a Department of Hematology, Hospital del Mar, Passeig Maritim, Barcelona, Spain b Department of Hematology, Fundación Hospital Alcorcón, Madrid, Spain c Department of Hematology, Hospital de la Costa del Sol, Marbella, Spain d Department of Hematology, Hospital Príncipe de Asturias, Madrid, Spain e Department of Hematology, Hospital Vall D’Hebron, Barcelona, Spain f Department of Hematology, Hospital Universitario de la Princesa, Madrid, Spain g Department of Hematology, Hospital Universitario de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain h Department of Hematology-BMTt, MD Anderson Spain, Madrid, Spain i Department of Hematology, Hospital de Cruces, Bilbao, Spain j Department of Hematology, Ciudad Sanitaria 12 de Octubre, Madrid, Spain k Department of Hematology, Hospital Universitario Germans Trias i Pujol, Barcelona, Spain l Department of Hematology, Hospital General Gregorio Mara˜ non, Madrid, Spain m Department of Hematology, Instituto Catalan de Oncologia, Barcelona, Spain n Department of Hematology, Fundacion Jimenez Diaz, Madrid, Spain o Department of Hematology, Clínica Universitaria de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain p Department of Hematology, Hospital de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain q Department of Hematology, Hospital Virgen de la Victoria, Malaga, Spain r Department of Hematology, Clinica Benidorm, Alicante, Spain s Department of Hematology, Hospital Virgen de la Arixaca, Murcia, Spain t Department of Hematology, Hospital Txagorritxu, Vitoria, Spain u Department of Hematology, Hospital Parc Tauli, Barcelona, Spain a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 28 September 2011 Received in revised form 21 October 2011 Accepted 25 October 2011 Available online 7 December 2011 Keywords: Non-Hodgkin lymphoma Chronic lymphocytic leukemia Prognosis Bendamustine Rituximab Antineoplastic agents a b s t r a c t Bendamustine is a alkylating agent with a purine-like benzamidazole ring currently approved in Europe for indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and multiple myeloma. Our aim was to analyze retrospectively the efficacy and toxicity of bendamustine in NHL and CLL in Spain in the bendamustine Compassionate Use Program. Patients with relapsed/refractory NHL or CLL were eligible. Any regimen containing bendamustine was eligible. 109 patients were included from 22 institutions. Forty-nine patients had indolent NHL, 18 aggressive NHL and 42 CLL, being 44 patients (40%) refractory to previous treatment. 63% of patients had adverse events grade 3–4, mainly hematological. Overall response rate (ORR) was 66%, complete responses 30%. ORR observed in refractory patients was 45%. The median progression-free survival (PFS) was 13 months. Outcome was influenced by histology, number of previous treatments, resistance to previous chemotherapy and type of response achieved with bendamustine. Alone or in combination, bendamustine shows a meaningful clinical antitumor activity in patients with relapsed or refractory NHL or CLL, with an acceptable toxicity profile. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. * Corresponding author. Tel.: +34 93 248 33 43; fax: +34 93 248 33 43. E-mail address: 97894@parcdesalutmar.cat (B. Sanchez-Gonzalez). Non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHLs) comprise 3–5% of all malignancies in Spain and worldwide [1,2]. They represent a heterogeneous group of lymphoid malignancies with diverse histology, immunophenotype and molecular pathology that deter- mine different clinical presentation, response to treatment and outcome. The most frequently used therapeutic drugs for NHL are 0145-2126/$ – see front matter © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.leukres.2011.10.024