Publications by authors named "Bassermann F"

Article Synopsis
  • Despite improvements in targeted therapy for Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), the prognosis remains poor, particularly for patients with relapsed or refractory disease.
  • Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (alloSCT) is the main curative option for high-risk patients, but the best conditioning approach is still uncertain for those who are chemotherapy-refractory.
  • A study on seven AML patients who received CXCR4-directed endoradiotherapy (ERT) combined with total body irradiation and chemotherapy prior to alloSCT showed promising outcomes, with 6 out of 7 patients achieving response and successful engraftment, offering insights into a potentially effective treatment strategy for advanced cases.
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The functions of integrins are tightly regulated via multiple mechanisms including trafficking and degradation. Integrins are repeatedly internalized, routed into the endosomal system and either degraded by the lysosome or recycled back to the plasma membrane. The ubiquitin system dictates whether internalized proteins are degraded or recycled.

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Patients with hematologic malignancies still face a significant risk of severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-neutralizing monoclonal antibody combination tixagevimab/cilgavimab (TIX/CGB) could be administered to immunocompromised patients for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) before the emergence of TIX/CGB-resistant COVID-19 Omicron variants. TIX/CGB application could be carried out regardless of the host's immune response to previous active SARS-CoV-2 vaccinations or infections.

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B-cell malignancies, such as chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and multiple myeloma (MM), remain incurable, with MM particularly prone to relapse. Our study introduces a novel mouse model with active RANK signaling and the TCL1 oncogene, displaying both CLL and MM phenotypes. In younger mice, TCL1 and RANK expression expands CLL-like B1-lymphocytes, while MM originates from B2-cells, becoming predominant in later stages and leading to severe disease progression and mortality.

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Osteopenia and osteoporosis are common long-term complications of the cytotoxic conditioning regimen for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). We examined mesenchymal stem and progenitor cells (MSPCs), which include skeletal progenitors, from mice undergoing HSCT. Such MSPCs showed reduced fibroblastic colony-forming units frequency, increased DNA damage, and enhanced occurrence of cellular senescence, whereas there was a reduced bone volume in animals that underwent HSCT.

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Multiple myeloma (MM) is a genetically heterogeneous disease and the management of relapses is one of the biggest clinical challenges. alterations are established high-risk markers and are included in the current disease staging criteria. is the most frequently mutated gene affecting around 20% of MM patients.

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Multiple myeloma (MM) is a plasma cell malignancy of the bone marrow. Despite therapeutic advances, MM remains incurable, and better risk stratification as well as new therapies are therefore highly needed. The proteome of MM has not been systematically assessed before and holds the potential to uncover insight into disease biology and improved prognostication in addition to genetic and transcriptomic studies.

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Thromboembolic events are common in patients with essential thrombocythemia (ET). However, the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying the increased thrombotic risk remain to be determined. Here, we perform the first phenotypical characterization of platelet expression using single-cell mass cytometry in six ET patients and six age- and sex-matched healthy individuals.

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Background: Despite recent advances in the treatment of multiple myeloma, high-dose chemotherapy followed by autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (ASCT) remains an essential therapeutic keystone. As for the stem cell mobilization procedure, different regimens have been established, usually consisting of a cycle of chemotherapy followed by application of granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF), although febrile neutropenia is a common complication. Following national guidelines, our institution decided to primarily use G-CSF only mobilization during the COVID-19 pandemic to minimize the patients' risk of infection and to reduce the burden on the health system.

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Teclistamab, a B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA) × CD3 directed bispecific antibody, has shown high response rates and durable remissions in the MAJESTEC-1 trial in patients with relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM). We retrospectively assessed efficacy and tolerability in 123 patients treated at 18 different German centers to determine whether outcome is comparable in the real-world setting. Most patients had triple-class (93%) or penta-drug (60%) refractory disease, 37% of patients had received BCMA-directed pretreatment including idecabtagene vicleucel (ide-cel) CAR-T cell therapy (21/123, 17.

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Article Synopsis
  • - CXCR4 is found to be overexpressed in various cancers, particularly in blood-related tumors, making it a target for a theranostic approach that combines diagnosis and treatment.
  • - Recent discussions among specialists in hemato-oncology and nuclear medicine highlighted the potential of CXCR4-targeted radioligand therapy and its effectiveness in treating advanced T-cell lymphomas and improving imaging for certain lymphomas.
  • - Experts recommend conducting prospective trials to further explore the benefits of CXCR4-based imaging and therapy in clinical settings.
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The microbiome is a predictor of clinical outcome in patients receiving allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-SCT). Microbiota-derived metabolites can modulate these outcomes. How bacteria, fungi and viruses contribute to the production of intestinal metabolites is still unclear.

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Background: Inter-individual differences in response to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) remain a major challenge in cancer treatment. The composition of the gut microbiome has been associated with differential ICI outcome, but the underlying molecular mechanisms remain unclear, and therapeutic modulation challenging.

Methods: We established an in vivo model to treat C57Bl/6j mice with the type-I interferon (IFN-I)-modulating, bacterial-derived metabolite desaminotyrosine (DAT) to improve ICI therapy.

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Purpose: Co-prevalence of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) and cancer poses a unique challenge in medical care since both diseases and their respective therapies might interact. Recently, reduced AAA growth rates were observed in cancer patients that received radiation therapy (RT). The purpose of this study was to perform a fine-grained analysis of the effects of RT on AAA growth with respect to direct (infield) and out-of-field (outfield) radiation exposure, and radiation dose-dependency.

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Tumor-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) have been associated with immune evasion and tumor progression. We show that the RNA-sensing receptor RIG-I within tumor cells governs biogenesis and immunomodulatory function of EVs. Cancer-intrinsic RIG-I activation releases EVs, which mediate dendritic cell maturation and T cell antitumor immunity, synergizing with immune checkpoint blockade.

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Article Synopsis
  • Scientists found that many people with heart artery problems have special gene changes called CHIP, which might make their hearts healthier or sicker.
  • They used special DNA tests to look for these changes in blood and tissue from heart patients and found a lot of them had CHIP.
  • They also discovered that the role of these CHIP changes in cells can vary; some may cause more inflammation while others affect energy use in the cells.
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Article Synopsis
  • Systemic pan-tumor analyses help uncover key features related to cancer immune response and patient outcomes across different tumor types.
  • A study involving 32 patients and 25 tumor types employed multi-omics data to discover various tumor-specific neoantigens using an optimized computational pipeline that integrates DNA/RNA sequencing and mass spectrometry.
  • The research highlights the significance of RNA data in identifying potential neoantigens, revealing 32 promising candidates linked to RNA-identified variants, thereby emphasizing the need for further exploration in this area.
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Article Synopsis
  • * Researchers analyzed blood stem cell behavior from individuals with healthy conditions, CHIP, and MDS using computational models and found that standard blood cell development patterns explained healthy cells, while alternative development patterns were necessary for many CHIP and MDS patients.
  • * The study indicated that changes in blood cell production kinetics are already apparent in the premalignant CHIP stage, suggesting that structural changes in blood cell production begin before the full development of malignancies like MDS.
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Article Synopsis
  • The DNA damage response (DDR) is important for preventing cancer, but it doesn’t always work well in tumors, making it a target for new treatments.
  • Researchers found that a protein called SLF2 helps the DDR and is linked to a type of blood cancer called B-cell lymphoma, especially in patients who might have a worse outcome.
  • When SLF2 is missing, it causes more DNA damage in cancer cells, which can be treated with a special drug that targets another process called SUMOylation, making it a potential way to fight aggressive lymphoma.
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Article Synopsis
  • Multi-morbidity complicates health care for the aging population, particularly concerning the growth of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AscAAs) in patients who also have cancer.
  • A study analyzing 151 patients with AscAA and cancer found that neither the type of cancer nor treatments like chemotherapy and radiation significantly affected the growth rate of AscAAs.
  • The average annual growth rate of AscAAs in these patients was low (0.18 mm/year), with only a small number experiencing significant growth (over 1 mm/year).
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