Author(s)

Photis Beris^1,2, Monika Nagy¹, Daniel Robert¹, Kaveh Samii¹, Tom McKee³, Jovita Schuler⁴

¹Division of Haematology, University Hospital of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
²Department of Haematology, Unilabs Coppet, Coppet, Switzerland.
³Department of Pathology, CMU, Geneva, Switzerland.
⁴Novartis Pharma Switzerland, Rotkreuz, Switzerland.

Background: Patients with stem cell myeloproliferative disorders have a particularly poor prognosis and limited treatment options, i.e. mainly aggressive chemotherapy or allogeneic stem cell transplantation. In 2004, Chen et al. reported a patient presenting a t(8;13) (p11;q12) cytogenic anomaly who responded positively to treatment with PKC412 (midostaurin), an oral multi-targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor. Here, we report a second case treated with the above-mentioned drug. Patient: A 71-year-old woman was diagnosed as having chronic myelogenous leukaemia with eosinophilia secondary to t(8;13) with FGFR1 involvement. Due to her age, an allogeneic stem cell transplantation was not possible. Treatment: A treatment combining aggressive chemotherapy and midostaurin was explored. The patient received one cycle of hyper-CVAD chemotherapy followed by maintenance therapy with midostaurin. A relapse occurred after six months, and she was treated with four more cycles of hyper-CVAD chemotherapy. The patient entered a complete clinical, haematological and cytogenetic remission. A maintenance therapy with midostaurin continued for four months until she developed a chemoresistant relapse followed by acute leukaemia. Conclusion: This is the second case of a t(8;13) myeloid and lymphoid neoplasm with FGFR1 abnormalities treated successfully with midostaurin. Midostaurin is administered orally, allows for outpatient care and in this case showed only occasional and minimal side effects. The combination of hyper-CVAD and midostaurin extended survival by 21 months without allogeneic transplantation. This case further supports the possibility of using midostaurin for the treatment of other diseases with FGFR1 dysregulations; however, specific clinical trials are needed to confirm this hypothesis.

PKC412, Myeloid and Lymphoid Neoplasms with Eosinophilia and FGFR1 Abnormality, Translocation with an 8p11 Breakpoint, FGFR1 Rearrangement

Beris, P. , Nagy, M. , Robert, D. , Samii, K. , McKee, T. and Schuler, J. (2014) Compassionate Use of Midostaurin in Myeloid and Lymphoid Neoplasia with FGFR1 Abnormality. Case Reports in Clinical Medicine, 3, 560-565. doi: 10.4236/crcm.2014.310122.