Anaemia of Inflammation Preceding Dyspnoea, Dry Cough and Weight Loss in Primary Pulmonary Lymphoma.

Introduction: There is little information in the literature on the early, sub-clinical stage and laboratory test results in patients with primary mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma of the lung, a rare disease.

Case Description: In a 75-year-old man, an open lung biopsy-confirmed diagnosis of primary pulmonary lymphoma was preceded by almost six months of anaemia of inflammatory disease and monocytosis without any pulmonary symptoms. When he developed a dry cough, increasing dyspnoea and marked weight loss, these changes deepened and became associated with reactive thrombocytosis; markedly increased ferritin and C-reactive protein (positive acute-phase reactants), as well as reduced albumin and transferrin (negative acute-phase reactants).

MDS-Related Anemia Is Associated with Impaired Quality of Life but Improvement Is Not Always Achieved by Increased Hemoglobin Level.

Quality of life is impaired in MDS, but the role of hemoglobin level is unclear. To study the Hb-QoL correlation at diagnosis and 1 year later, patients filled out the EQ-5D questionnaire, assessing their mobility, self care, daily activities, pain/discomfort, and anxiety/depression, using scores of 0 (normal), 1 (mild/moderate), or 2 (poor). They also evaluated their health using a visual analogue scale, scoring from 0 (poor) to 100 (excellent).

Clonal Myeloid Dysplasia Following CAR T-Cell Therapy: Chicken or the Egg?

Multiple myeloma (MM) is characterized by recurrent relapses. Consequently, patients receive multiple therapy lines, including alkylating agents and immune modulators, which have been associated with secondary malignancies such as myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). Anti-B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA) chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CART) therapy is efficacious in patients with relapsed/refractory (R/R) MM.

Raising the standards of patient-centered outcomes research in myelodysplastic syndromes: Clinical utility and validation of the subscales of the QUALMS from the MDS-RIGHT project.

Background: Clinical decision-making for patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) is challenging, and both disease and treatment effects heavily impact health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of these patients. Therefore, disease-specific HRQoL measures can be critical to harness the patient voice in MDS research.

Methods: We report a prospective international validation study of the Quality of Life in Myelodysplasia Scale (QUALMS) with a main focus on providing information on the psychometric characteristics of its three subscales: physical burden (QUALMS-P), emotional burden (QUALMS-E), and benefit finding (QUALMS-BF).

Peripheral Blood Cell Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Myelodysplastic Syndrome Can Be Improved by a Combination of Coenzyme Q10 and Carnitine.

Structural mitochondrial abnormalities and genetic aberrations in mitochondrial proteins have been known in Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), yet there is currently little data regarding MDS's metabolic properties and energy production cells. In the current study, we used state-of-the-art methods to assess OXPHOS in peripheral blood cells obtained from MDS patients and healthy controls. We then assessed the effect of food supplements-Coenzyme Q10 and carnitine on mitochondrial function and hematological response.

Kinetics of pre-myelodysplastic syndromes blood values correlate with disease risk and survival.

We reviewed pre-diagnosis clinical data of 420 patients with pathologically confirmed myelodysplastic syndromes (MDSs) presenting with anemia. In 232 patients with yearly pre-diagnosis complete blood counts (CBCs), we also analyzed CBC kinetics in respects to a standardized timepoint in which all patients had similar levels of hemoglobin (Hgb). At the standardized timepoint (last documented 12 > Hgb ≥ 11 g/dL), occurring months-years before diagnosis, median CBC values were Hgb 11.

Can bone marrow cellularity help in predicting prognosis in myelodysplastic syndromes?

Objectives: To ascertain the relevance of bone marrow cellularity (BMC) to the interpretation of blast percentage (blast%) in MDS prognostication.

Methods: We compared survival prediction based on blast% adjusted to different levels of cellularity, compared to the survival based on the original IPSS-R blast% grouping.

Results: We analyzed 355 consecutive MDS patients.

Modification of initial therapy in early and advanced Hodgkin lymphoma, based on interim PET/CT is beneficial: a prospective multicentre trial of 355 patients.

This multicentre study evaluated 5-year progression-free (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in early and advanced Hodgkin lymphoma (HL), where therapy was individualized based on initial prognostic factors and positron emission tomography-computed tomography performed after two cycles (PET-2). Between September 2006 and August 2013, 359 patients aged 18-60 years, were recruited in nine Israeli centres. Early-HL patients initially received ABVD (adriamycin, bleomycin, vinblastine, dacarbazine) ×2.

Azacitidine-lenalidomide (ViLen) combination yields a high response rate in higher risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS)-ViLen-01 protocol.

Azacitidine treatment is effective in higher risk MDS (HR-MDS), with less than 50 % response, lasting 2 years. Aza and lenalidomide (Len) have a potential synergistic effect. ViLen-01 phase IIa trial includes 6-month induction (Aza 75 mg/m(2)/day, days 1-5, Len 10 mg/day, days 6-21, every 28 days), 6-month consolidation (Aza 75 mg/m(2)/day, days 1-5, every 28 days), and 12-month maintenance (Len 10 mg/day, days 1-21, every 28 days).

Incidence of Profound Hypogammaglobulinemia and Infection Rate in Lymphoma Patients Following the Combination of Chemotherapy and Rituximab.

Background: The Anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody Rituximab suppresses B-lymphocytes and may induce hypogammaglobulinemia in treated patients. The incidence and clinical significance of rituximab induced hypogammaglobulinemia in lymphoma patients is underestimated.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the rates of hypogammaglobulinemia, infection and infection-related mortality in 136 lymphoma patients who were treated with a combination of chemotherapy and rituximab.

Higher infection rate after 7- compared with 5-day cycle of azacitidine in patients with higher-risk myelodysplastic syndrome.

Introduction: Azacitidine (AZA) dose reduction is a common practice in cytopenic patients. However, a correlation between AZA dose and infection complications has never been studied.

Patients And Methods: Higher-risk patients with myelodysplastic syndrome or acute myeloid leukemia treated with AZA in 18 Israeli hospitals between the years 2008 and 2011 were included in a former national survey.

Predicting infections in high-risk patients with myelodysplastic syndrome/acute myeloid leukemia treated with azacitidine: a retrospective multicenter study.

Hypomethylating agents have become the standard therapy for patients with high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). In Israel, azacitidine (AZA) is routinely used. Yet, infectious complications are common during AZA therapy.