Real-practice management and treatment of idiopathic multicentric Castleman disease with siltuximab: a collection of clinical experiences.

Castleman disease (CD) is a group of lymphoproliferative disorders that share common histopathological features yet have widely different aetiologies, clinical features and grades of severity as well as treatments and outcomes. Siltuximab is currently the only therapy approved by the FDA and EMA for idiopathic multicentric CD and is recommended as first-line therapy in treatment guidelines. Despite the extensive characterization of siltuximab treatment in clinical trials, available evidence from real-world practice is still scant.

Electronic case report forms generation from pathology reports by ARGO, automatic record generator for onco-hematology.

The unstructured nature of Real-World (RW) data from onco-hematological patients and the scarce accessibility to integrated systems restrain the use of RW information for research purposes. Natural Language Processing (NLP) might help in transposing unstructured reports into standardized electronic health records. We exploited NLP to develop an automated tool, named ARGO (Automatic Record Generator for Onco-hematology) to recognize information from pathology reports and populate electronic case report forms (eCRFs) pre-implemented by REDCap.

Primary, Bilateral and Diffuse Renal Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma in a Young Woman Suffering from Turner Syndrome.

Primary renal lymphoma (PRL) is a rare form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) restricted to and primarily involving one or both kidneys, with no lymph node extension. It accounts for <1% of extranodal lymphomas, and descriptions in the literature are limited. Here, we describe an unprecedented case of bilateral PRL in a 44-year-old woman with Turner syndrome and discuss both diagnostic and therapeutic issues in the light of the available literature in the field.

Erythropoietin is involved in the angiogenic potential of bone marrow macrophages in multiple myeloma.

Erythropoietin (Epo) is the crucial cytokine regulator of red blood cell production, and recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEpo) is widely used in clinical practice for the treatment of anemia, primarily in kidney disease and in cancer. Increasing evidence suggests several biological roles for Epo and its receptor, Epo-R, unrelated to erythropoiesis, including angiogenesis. Epo-R has been found expressed in various non-haematopoietic cells and tissues, and in cancer cells.

Lenalidomide plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, prednisone and rituximab is safe and effective in untreated, elderly patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma: a phase I study by the Fondazione Italiana Linfomi.

Despite improvements in standard therapy with rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine and prednisone for patients with untreated, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, up to 40% of these patients relapse. Lenalidomide alone or in combination with rituximab has been shown to be active in relapsed/refractory aggressive lymphomas. In this phase I study we determined the maximum tolerated dose of lenalidomide plus rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine and prednisone in untreated, elderly (median age 68 years) patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

Novel targeting of phospho-cMET overcomes drug resistance and induces antitumor activity in multiple myeloma.

Purpose: The aim of the study was to verify the hypothesis that the cMet oncogene is implicated in chemio- and novel drug resistance in multiple myeloma.

Experimental Design: We have evaluated the expression levels of cMET/phospho-cMET (p-cMET) and the activity of the novel selective p-cMET inhibitor (SU11274) in multiple myeloma cells, either sensitive (RPMI-8226 and MM.1S) or resistant (R5 and MM.

Pentraxin 3 (PTX3) inhibits plasma cell/stromal cell cross-talk in the bone marrow of multiple myeloma patients.

Pentraxin 3 (PTX3) is a soluble pattern recognition receptor that binds with high affinity and selectivity to fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF2), thus inhibiting its pro-angiogenic activity. Here we investigated the effects of PTX3 on monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) and multiple myeloma (MM) patient-derived bone marrow (BM) plasma cells (PCs), endothelial cells (ECs), and fibroblasts (FBs), and assessed whether PTX3 can modulate the cross-talk between PCs and those microenvironment cells. PTX3 and FGF2 expression was evaluated by ELISA.

Plerixafor added to chemotherapy plus G-CSF is safe and allows adequate PBSC collection in predicted poor mobilizer patients with multiple myeloma or lymphoma.

We evaluated the safety and efficacy of plerixafor, subsequent to disease-specific chemotherapy followed by granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF), in 37 multiple myeloma (MM) or lymphoma patients, who were candidates for autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) predicted as poor mobilizers (PMs). Patients were identified as predicted PMs according to the history of a previously failed mobilization attempt or the presence of ≥1 factors predicting an unsuccessful harvest, such as advanced disease, prior extensive radiotherapy, or prolonged treatment, with stem cell poisons, advanced age, or extensive bone marrow involvement. Plerixafor (0.

One year of clinical experience in postdilution hemofiltration with online reinfusion of regenerated ultrafiltrate.

Background/aims: Hemofiltrate reinfusion (HFR) is characterized by the use of regenerated ultrafiltrate as replacement fluid. We set up a new technique, postdilution HFR (PD-HFR), aiming at increasing purification efficiency, treatment tolerance and at reducing inflammatory states.

Methods: We performed PD-HFR in 6 uremic patients during 1 year.

Adequate protein dietary restriction in diabetic and nondiabetic patients with chronic renal failure.

Objective: To evaluate whether a dietary protein restriction is useful for slowing the progression of chronic renal failure (CRF) in diabetic and nondiabetic patients and to analyze the possible risk of malnutrition after such a dietary regimen.

Design: Prospective, randomized case-control clinical trial.

Setting: Nephrology outpatients.