IntroductionThe Pitié Salpêtrière Hospital Hemobiotherapy Department, Paris, France, has been providing extracorporeal photopheresis (ECP) since November 2011, and started using the Therakos® CELLEX® fully integrated system in 2012. This report summarizes our single‐center experience of transitioning from the use of multi‐step ECP procedures to the fully integrated ECP system, considering the capacity and cost implications.Materials and MethodsThe total number of ECP procedures performed 2011–2015 was derived from department records. The time taken to complete a single ECP treatment using a multi‐step technique and the fully integrated system at our department was assessed. Resource costs (2014€) were obtained for materials and calculated for personnel time required. Time‐driven activity‐based costing methods were applied to provide a cost comparison.ResultsThe number of ECP treatments per year increased from 225 (2012) to 727 (2015). The single multi‐step procedure took 270 min compared to 120 min for the fully integrated system. The total calculated per‐session cost of performing ECP using the multi‐step procedure was greater than with the CELLEX® system (€1,429.37 and €1,264.70 per treatment, respectively).ConclusionsFor hospitals considering a transition from multi‐step procedures to fully integrated methods for ECP where cost may be a barrier, time‐driven activity‐based costing should be utilized to gain a more comprehensive understanding the full benefit that such a transition offers. The example from our department confirmed that there were not just cost and time savings, but that the time efficiencies gained with CELLEX® allow for more patient treatments per year.

Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia is generally treated with alkylating agents, purine analogs and monoclonal antibodies, alone or in combination. We report the outcomes of 82 patients (median age 61 years) treated with the RFC combination. Twenty-five patients were treatment-naive. RFC was administered every 4 weeks, for a median of five cycles. At treatment discontinuation, the overall response rate was 85.4%. The responses improved after treatment discontinuation in 25 patients, with a median time to best response achievement of 10.8 months, raising the major response rate (PR, VGPR and CR) from 64.6% to 76.8%. With a median follow-up of 47 months, the median progression-free survival time had not been reached (67% PFS at 48 months) and was influenced by age and treatment status before RFC. Likewise, the median time to next therapy had not been reached. Two cases of myelodysplastic syndrome/AML and 3 cases of transformation to aggressive lymphoma occurred. Thirteen patients died. The 3-year overall survival rate was 90%. Long-lasting cytopenias occurred in 19 patients. The RFC combination thus gave a high response rate and durable responses, even in heavily treatment-experienced patients. The high incidence of long-lasting cytopenia might be reduced by giving fewer courses and thereby minimizing myelotoxicity. Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia (WM) is a rare B-cell malignancy characterized by the production of a monoclonal immunoglobulin (IgM) by welldifferentiated plasmacytic lymphocytes. Therapy is currently reserved for patients with constitutional symptoms, bone marrow or peripheral lymphoid organ involvement, and complications due to the monoclonal IgM component [1]. There is no consensus treatment strategy, and most clinical trials in WM have so far consisted of small phase II studies with widely differing inclusion and response criteria. Classically used chemotherapeutic agents consist of alkylating agents (chlorambucil, cyclophosphamide), purine analogues (fludarabine, 2-chlorodeoxyadenosine or 2CDA), a proteasome inhibitor (bortezomib) and bendamustine, used either alone or, more often, combined with immunotherapy (principally rituximab). A combination of cyclophosphamide and purine analogues offers synergistic activity, as DNA breaks caused by cyclophosphamide cannot be repaired in the presence of a purine analogue [2]. Studies of the cyclophosphamide and fludarabine combination in WM patients showed an overall response rate (ORR) of 55-77%, and a median time to treatment failure of around 24 months [3]. The fludarabine and rituximab combination has also been studied in a phase II trial, with an ORR of 95.3%, a 4-year progression-free survival rate (PFS) of 67%, and a median time to progression (TTP) of 77 months [4]. Rituximab, fludarabine, and cyclophosphamide combination therapy (RFC) yields a high response rate in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), both as first-line treatment and after relapse [5,6], and is more effective than the FC combination in untreated CLL patients [7]. Until no...