Leukemia
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We examined the clinical response of fludarabine-refractory CLL patients treated with high-dose methylprednisolone (HDMP) and rituximab. Fourteen patients were treated with three cycles of rituximab (375 mg/m(2) weekly for 4 weeks) in combination with HDMP (1 gm/m(2) daily for 5 days). All patients were refractory to fludarabine and 86% had high-risk disease by the modified Rai classification. ⋯ Patients tolerated the treatment well and serious adverse events were rare. This allowed patients to receive all planned treatments on schedule with no dose modifications. All but one patient responded to treatment and the overall survival and time-to-progression were superior to those of other published salvage regimens.