Publications by authors named "Agostino Tafuri"

Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) is an indolent malignancy characterized by the accumulation of quiescent mature B cells. However, these cells are transcriptionally and translationally active, implicating an active metabolism. The recent literature suggests that CLL cells have an oxidative-type phenotype.

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The Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor ibrutinib represents an effective strategy for treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), nevertheless about 30% of patients eventually undergo disease progression. Here we investigated by flow cytometry the long-term modulation of the CLL CXCR4/CD5 proliferative fraction (PF), its correlation with therapeutic outcome and emergence of ibrutinib resistance. By longitudinal tracking, the PF, initially suppressed by ibrutinib, reappeared upon early disease progression, without association with lymphocyte count or serum beta-2-microglobulin.

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Real-world data in clinical practice are needed to confirm the efficacy and safety that ibrutinib has demonstrated in clinical trials of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). We described the real-world persistence rate, patterns of use, and clinical outcomes in 309 patients with CLL receiving single-agent ibrutinib in first line (1L, = 118), 2L ( = 127) and ≥3L ( = 64) in the prospective, real-world, Italian EVIdeNCE study. After a median follow-up of 23.

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Loss-of-function mutations in NFKBIE, which encodes for the NF-κB inhibitor IκBε, are frequent in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and certain other B-cell malignancies and have been associated with accelerated disease progression and inferior responses to chemotherapy. Using in vitro and in vivo murine models and primary patient samples, we now show that NFKBIE-mutated CLL cells are selected by microenvironmental signals that activate the NF-κB pathway and induce alterations within the tumor microenvironment that can allow for immune escape, including expansion of CD8+ T-cells with an exhausted phenotype and increased PD-L1 expression on the malignant B-cells. Consistent with the latter observations, we find increased expression of exhaustion markers on T-cells from patients with NFKBIE-mutated CLL.

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Article Synopsis
  • Therapies for relapsed/refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) are limited, particularly for patients who can't tolerate standard treatments, prompting the evaluation of a new combination therapy.
  • In a phase 1b trial, 30 patients were treated with venetoclax, a BCL-2 inhibitor, and cobimetinib, a MEK1/2 inhibitor, but experienced significant adverse effects like diarrhea, nausea, and fatigue, leading to dose modifications in many cases.
  • The combination therapy showed a low overall response rate (15.6% complete remission) and suggested that certain baseline biological markers may help predict patient responses, indicating limited efficacy similar to single-agent venetoclax but with increased toxicity.
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  • A study compared the effectiveness of standard-dose prednisone (PDN) and high-dose dexamethasone (HD-DXM) as first-line treatments for newly diagnosed primary immune thrombocytopenia (pITP) in adults aged 18-80.
  • The trial involved 113 patients, with 52% receiving PDN and 48% receiving HD-DXM, showing initial response rates of 78.57% for PDN versus 93.88% for HD-DXM; however, the long-term responses favored PDN.
  • Both treatments were well tolerated, with overall survival at 100% after 48 months, highlighting that while HD-DXM may yield quicker initial results, PDN offers more sustained
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Oxidative stress and impaired mitophagy are the hallmarks of cardiomyocyte senescence. Specifically, a decrease in mitophagic flux leads to the accumulation of damaged mitochondria and the development of senescence through increased ROS and other mediators. In this study, we describe the preventive role of A5, a mix of polyphenols and other micronutrients, in doxorubicin (DOXO)-induced senescence of H9C2 cells.

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Background: Castleman disease (CD) comprises a group of rare and heterogeneous haematological disorders, including unicentric (UCD) and multicentric (MCD) forms, the latter further subdivided into HHV8-MCD, POEMS-MCD and idiopathic-MCD (iMCD). However, according to the Castleman Disease Collaborative Network guidelines, the diagnosis of CD can only be achieved through collaboration between clinicians and pathologists.

Methods: We applied these clinical and pathological criteria and implement with clonality testing to a retrospective cohort of 48 adult and paediatric Italian patients diagnosed with reactive lymphadenitis with CD-like histological features.

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Article Synopsis
  • Scientists studied a type of blood cancer called chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) that has a mutation in a gene named XPO1.
  • They found that this mutation changes how certain genes are turned on or off, making the cancer cells react more strongly to signals that help them grow.
  • The researchers also discovered that having this mutation is linked to patients needing treatment sooner, which means it could be an important sign of how serious their condition is.
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In this study we analyzed the expression of Yin and Yang 1 protein (YY1), a member of the noncanonical PcG complexes, in AML patient samples and AML cell lines and the effect of YY1 downregulation on the AML differentiation block. Our results show that YY1 is significantly overexpressed in AML patient samples and AML cell lines and that YY1 knockdown relieves the differentiation block. YY1 downregulation in two AML cell lines (HL-60 and OCI-AML3) and one AML patient sample restored the expression of members of the CEBP protein family, increased the expression of extrinsic growth factors/receptors and surface antigenic markers, induced morphological cell characteristics typical of myeloid differentiation, and sensitized cells to retinoic acid treatment and to apoptosis.

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Background: In order to evaluate the efficacy of residual site radiation therapy (RSRT) in terms of progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in patients with primary mediastinal lymphoma (PMBCL) with Deauville Score 4 (DS 4) following rituximab and chemotherapy treatment (R-ICHT).

Methods: Thirty-one patients with PMBCL were recruited. After completion of R-ICHT, patients were staged with 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron-emission tomography, showing DS 4, and were treated with adjuvant RSRT.

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  • Classical Hodgkin Lymphoma (HL) primarily affects young patients, leading to long-term survival but complications like infertility, which is simpler to manage in males than females.
  • This study encompassed 270 female HL patients to assess the impact of standard treatment (ABVD) on ovarian function and fertility through hormone levels and tissue analysis before and after chemotherapy.
  • Results showed a significant drop in Anti-Mullerian Hormone (AMH) levels 6 months post-treatment, though they returned near baseline values by 12 months, while ovarian follicles and uterine thickness also reduced but showed recovery over time.
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Objectives: Interstitial pneumonia is a severe complication induced by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. Several treatments have been proposed alone or, more often, in combination, depending, also, on the presence of other organ disfunction. The most frequently related, well-described, and associated phenomenon is pan-lymphopenia with circulating, high levels of cytokines.

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COVID-19 disease has a strong impact on hematological patients; those receiving autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (aHSCT) represent a particularly vulnerable group, in which the effectiveness of vaccination is very variable. Chiarucci et al. showed that patients affected by non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) and treated with rituximab experienced a lower rate of immunization against SARS-CoV-2 (54%), as well as significantly lower IgG antibody titers.

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The upfront treatment of very elderly and frail patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is still a matter of debate. Herein, we report results of the metronomic all-oral DEVEC [prednisolone/deltacortene®, vinorelbine (VNR), etoposide (ETO), cyclophosphamide] combined with i.v.

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Octogenarian patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma are managed mainly with palliation, but recent improvement in their overall condition makes potentially curative treatment a possibility. Studies have shown that half of selected octogenarians may be cured using reduced-dose anthracycline chemoimmunotherapy. However, patients aged >85 (late octogenarians [LO]) were underrepresented, and selection criteria were poorly defined.

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This phase 1b trial (NCT02670044) evaluated venetoclax-idasanutlin in patients with relapsed/refractory (R/R) acute myeloid leukemia (AML) ineligible for cytotoxic chemotherapy. Two-dimensional dose escalation (DE, n = 50) was performed for venetoclax daily with idasanutlin on days 1 to 5 in 28-day cycles, followed by dosing schedule optimization (n = 6) to evaluate reduced venetoclax schedules (21-/14-day dosing). Common adverse events (occurring in ≥40% of patients) included diarrhea (87.

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The Elderly Prognostic Index (EPI) is based on the integration of a simplified geriatric assessment, hemoglobin levels and International Prognostic Index and has been validated to predict overall survival in older patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). In this study, we evaluated the ability of EPI to predict the risk of early mortality. This study included all patients registered in the Elderly Project for whom treatment details and a minimum follow-up of 3 months were available.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigated the clinical utility of the IMWG frailty score in treating patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma, focusing on its effectiveness in capturing patient-reported quality of life.
  • Researchers conducted a cross-sectional analysis involving 415 patients across multiple hospitals in Italy and the UK, excluding individuals with certain psychiatric or cognitive issues.
  • The findings highlighted the importance of assessing frailty using established criteria to understand its impact on health-related quality of life for these patients, providing insights for better treatment decisions.
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Follicular dendritic cell (FDC) proliferation in angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (AITL) is still not well defined, challenging the accurate differential diagnosis between the AITL with expanded follicular dendritic cell meshwork and the combined AITL and follicular dendritic cell sarcoma (FDCS). Herein, we reported the case of a 58-year-old male with coexisting SARS-CoV-2 infection and AITL with an exuberant CD30-positive FDC proliferation, in which genetic analysis identified mutations of genes commonly involved in AITL but not in FDC sarcoma (i.e.

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