A phase 1 study of bortezomib and romidepsin in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma, indolent B-cell lymphoma, peripheral T-cell lymphoma, or cutaneous T-cell lymphoma.

A phase 1 study was conducted to determine the dose-limiting toxicities and maximum-tolerated dose (MTD) for bortezomib followed by romidepsin on days 1, 8, and 15 in patients with relapsed/refractory CLL/SLL or B- or T-cell lymphoma. Eighteen treated patients were evaluable for response. The MTD was 1.3 mg/m bortezomib and 10 mg/m romidepsin; median treatment duration was 3 cycles at this dose. The dose-limiting toxicities were grade 3 fatigue, vomiting, and chills. Two patients had partial responses, one lasting >2 years, 8 had stable disease, and 8 had progressive disease. The median duration of stable disease was 3.5 cycles. Correlative studies examining expression of NF-кB, XIAP, Bcl-xL, and Bim yielded variable results. The safety profile was consistent with that reported for single-agent bortezomib and romidepsin. This regimen has modest activity in heavily pretreated patients with relapsed/refractory CLL or B- or T-cell lymphoma. NCT00963274.