Curcumin has been shown to have a wide variety of therapeutic effects, ranging from anti-inflammatory, chemopreventive, anti-proliferative, and anti-metastatic. This review provides an overview of the recent research conducted to overcome the problems with the bioavailability of curcumin, and of the preclinical and clinical studies that have reported success in combinatorial strategies coupling curcumin with other treatments. Research on the signaling pathways that curcumin treatment targets shows that it potently acts on major intracellular components involved in key processes such as genomic modulations, cell invasion and cell death pathways. Curcumin is a promising molecule for the prevention and treatment of cancer.

3029 Background. In a recent phase 3 trial, bortezomib–melphalan – prednisone–thalidomide followed by maintenance treatment with bortezomib–thalidomide (VMPT-VT) demonstrated superior efficacy compared with VMP. Peripheral neuropathy (PN) was the most important dose limiting toxicity. To decrease neurologic toxicities, the protocol was amended and patients in both arms received once-weekly instead of the initial twice-weekly bortezomib infusions. This post-hoc analysis assessed the impact of bortezomib dose-modification schedule on clinical outcomes and safety. Methods. Patients (N=511) older than 65 years were randomized to receive nine 6-week cycles of VMPT-VT (N=254; induction:V 1.3 mg/m2, d 1, 4, 8, 11, 22, 25, 29, 32, cycles 1–4, d 1, 8, 22, 29, cycles 5–9; M 9 mg/m2 d 1–4, P 60 mg/m2, d 1–4, T 50 mg d 1–42; maintenance: V 1.3 mg/m2 every 14 days and T 50 mg/day) or VMP (N=257) alone. In March 2007, the protocol was amended: both VMPT-VT and VMP induction schedules were changed to nine 5-week cycles and bortezomib schedule was modified to weekly administration (1.3 mg/m2 d 1,8,15,22, all cycles). Patients receiving VMPT-VT and VMP were pooled together and stratified according to the once-weekly or twice-weekly infusion modality; analyses were also conducted for patients receiving VMP only, to eliminate the influence of thalidomide and of maintenance on efficacy and safety. Results. Patients were evaluated in intention-to-treat: 372 patients received once-weekly and 139 twice-weekly bortezomib infusion. Patient characteristics were similar in the two groups, median age was 71 years. The efficacy data did not appear to be affected by the bortezomib schedule. Overall response rates were 85% with once weekly and 86% with twice- weekly schedule (P = .78), including CR rates of 30% and 35% (P = .27).Three-year PFS was 50% in the once-weekly and 47% in the twice-weekly group (P = 1.00), and 3-year OS was 88% and 89%, respectively (P = .54). Similar outcome was seen in the analyses restricted to VMP patients: CR rates were 23% with once-weekly and 27% with twice-weekly schedule (P = .54), 3-years PFS was 46% in once-weekly and 39% (P = .86) in twice-weekly group and 3-years OS was 87% and 89% (P = .47), respectively. The incidence of grade 3/4 hematologic toxicity was similar in the two groups (44% vs 45%, P = .83), but severe thrombocytopenia was slightly less common in the once-weekly patients (19% vs 26%, P = .08).The incidence of non-hematologic grade 3/4 adverse events was significantly reduced in the once-weekly: 35% vs 51% (P = .003). Grade 3/4 gastrointestinal events (6% vs 11%, P = .08), severe systemic events (4% vs 7%, P = .09) and grade 3/4 dermatologic events (2% vs 7%, P = .006) were less frequent in patients receiving once-weekly bortezomib. There was a significantly reduced overall incidence of grade 3/4 PN (8% vs 28%, P < .001) in the once-weekly group. The median time to onset of grade 3/4 sensory PN was 4.3 months in the once-weekly group and 3.2 months in the twice-weekly group (P = .10). The cumulative incidence of sensory PN appeared to plateau after 12 months of therapy in both groups. Rates of discontinuations (5% versus 15%) and dose reductions (15% versus 41%) due to PN were also significantly lower in the once-weekly group (P < .001). These results were reflected in analysis restricted to VMP patients, in which the incidence of grade 3/4 PN (7% vs 29%, P < .001), the discontinuation rate (4% vs 16%, P = 0.002), and the dose reductions rate (15% vs 41% P < 0.001) were significantly lower in once-weekly group. Despite the cumulative planned dose being lower in the once-weekly group (46.8 vs 67.6 mg/m2), the delivered cumulative dose of bortezomib was similar in the two groups (39.4 mg/m2 vs 40.1 mg/m2). No association of PN with age or other baseline characteristics was outlined. The only significant factor influencing the incidence of PN was the reduction of bortezomib infusion from twice- to once-weekly (p<0.001). Low dose thalidomide did not affect grade 3/4 PN rate (p=0.16). Conclusion. These results demonstrate that 1. both once-weekly and twice-weekly schedules in combination with MP ± thalidomide are highly effective in patients ≥ 65 years; 2. once-weekly schedule significantly reduced the incidence of PN and decreased the rate of discontinuation, resulting in similar cumulative bortezomib doses in the two groups; 3. the improvement in the safety profile was not associated with any reduction in the efficacy. Disclosures: Bringhen: Celgene: Honoraria; Janssen Cilag: Honoraria. Leoni:Celgene: Honoraria; Janssen Cilag: Honoraria. Patriarca:Celgene: Honoraria; Janssen Cilag: Honoraria; Roche: Honoraria; Merck: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Guglielmelli:Celgene: Honoraria; Janssen Cilag: Honoraria. Elice:Celgene: Honoraria; Novatis: Honoraria. Boccadoro:Celgene: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Janssen-Cilag: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding. Palumbo:Celgene: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Janssen-Cilag: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees.

Secondary immunodeficiency is reported in most patients with hematological malignancies such as chronic lymphocytic leukemia and multiple myeloma. The aim of our review was to evaluate the existing literature data on patients with hematological malignancies, with regard to the effect of immunodeficiency on the outcome, the clinical and therapeutic approach, and on the onset of noninfectious complications, including thrombosis, pleural effusion, and orofacial complications. Immunodeficiency in these patients has an intense impact on their risk of infection, in turn increasing morbidity and mortality even years after treatment completion. However, these patients with increased risk of severe infectious diseases could be treated with adequate vaccination coverage, but the vaccines’ administration can be associated with a decreased immune response and an augmented risk of adverse reactions. Probably, immunogenicity of the inactivated is analogous to that of healthy subjects at the moment of vaccination, but it undertakes a gradual weakening over time. However, the dispensation of live attenuated viral vaccines is controversial because of the risk of the activation of vaccine viruses. A particular immunization schedule should be employed according to the clinical and immunological condition of each of these patients to guarantee a constant immune response without any risks to the patients’ health.

METHODS. Three groups of subjects were considered: group 1, twenty normal subjects; group 2, fifteen patients with monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS); group 3, eight patients with smoldering multiple myeloma and eight patients with untreated multiple myeloma. After hematologic diagnosis, patients underwent ophthalmologic exam and in vivo confocal microscopic study. The statistical analysis was performed using ANOVA and Student-Newman-Keuls tests and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis.RESULTS. Epithelial cells of gammopathic patients showed significantly higher reflectivity than controls, demonstrated by optical density (P < 0.001). Subbasal nerve density, branching, and beading were significantly altered in gammopathic patients (P ¼ 0.01, P ¼ 0.02, P ¼ 0.02, respectively). The number of keratocytes was significantly reduced in neoplastic patients (P < 0.001 versus both normal and MGUS) in the anterior, medium, and posterior stroma. The ROC curve analysis showed good sensitivity and specificity for this parameter. Group 2 and 3 keratocytes showed higher nuclear and cytoplasmatic reflectivity in the medium and posterior stroma. Endothelial cells were not affected. CONCLUSIONS.Patients with neoplastic gammopathies showed peculiar alterations of the keratocyte number, which appeared significantly reduced. A follow-up with corneal confocal microscopy of patients with MGUS is suggested as a useful tool to identify peripheral tissue alterations linked to possible neoplastic disease development.

Chronic inflammation is considered to be one of the hallmarks of tumor initiation and progression. Changes occurring in the microenvironment of progressing tumors resemble the process of chronic inflammation, which begins with ischemia followed by interstitial and cellular edema, appearance of immune cells, growth of blood vessels and tissue repair, and development of inflammatory infiltrates. Moreover, long‑term production and accumulation of inflammatory factors lead to local and systemic immunosuppression associated with cancer progression. Of the several mechanisms described to explain this anergy, the accumulation of myeloid cells in the tumor, spleen, and peripheral blood of cancer patients has gained considerable interest. A population of suppressive CD11b+Gr-1+ cells has in fact been designated as myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs). MDSCs are a unique category of the myeloid lineage, and they induce the prevention of the development of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) in vitro, and the induction of antigen-specific CD8+ T-cell tolerance in vivo. Therapeutic approaches directed toward the manipulation of the MDSC population and their function may improve chemoimmune-enhancing therapy for advanced malignancies.