Publications by authors named "Besien K"

Article Synopsis
  • Novel therapies like CAR-T, BTK inhibitors, and PD-1 inhibitors have transformed the treatment of aggressive B-cell lymphomas but can also lead to late side effects like second cancers and treatment failures.
  • CAR-T therapy is now preferred over autologous transplant for recurrent diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, while autologous transplant remains important for certain relapses and CNS lymphoma consolidation.
  • Allogeneic stem cell transplants are generally reserved for cases where autologous transplants fail, offering lower relapse rates but higher complications, highlighting the need for careful patient selection and treatment timing.
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Article Synopsis
  • The SIERRA trial aimed to improve outcomes for older patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (RR AML) by comparing a new treatment, I-apamistamab, against standard care before bone marrow transplant.
  • The study involved 153 patients, with results showing a significantly higher durable complete remission (dCR) rate of 17.1% for the I-apamistamab group compared to 0% for the conventional care group.
  • Although the overall survival rates were similar between the two groups, the I-apamistamab regimen exhibited more promise for achieving long-lasting remission with similar levels of severe side effects.
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Myelofibrosis (MF) in the chronic phase is a challenging disease to treat, and conventional treatment options are geared toward symptom palliation. In this prospective, multicenter, phase 2 trial, 21 patients with MF (18 chronic phase, 2 accelerated phase, and 1 blast phase) were treated with a 10-day schedule of subcutaneous decitabine at 0.3 mg/kg per day.

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Despite the established potentially curative role of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT) in managing myelofibrosis (MF), the choice of alternative donors for patients lacking matched donors remains a challenge, and the optimal graft source in this disease entity continues to be an ongoing debate. We aimed to evaluate the impact of donor type: umbilical cord blood transplant supported with CD34+ selected haploidentical donor (haplo-cord) versus adult matched related donor (MRD) and matched unrelated donor (MUD) in 40 adult patients with primary or secondary MF, including those progressing to accelerated phase (AP) or blast phase (BP), who underwent their first allo-HCT. The primary objective of this study was to analyze the impact of stem cell source on primary endpoints of overall survival (OS), graft-versus-host disease, and non-relapse mortality (NRM).

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The combination of cord blood transplant with progenitor cells from partially HLA-matched adult donors has been used over the past two decades. In Europe and the US the adult donor graft is CD34 selected and provides early hematopoiesis, but durable engraftment derives from the cord blood graft . Neutrophil recovery is prompt and rates of acute and chronic GVHD are low.

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Patients with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-positive posttransplant lymphoproliferative disease (EBV+ PTLD) in whom initial treatment fails have few options and historically low median overall survival (OS) of 0.7 months after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) and 4.1 months after solid organ transplant (SOT).

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Invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells, a unique T cell population, lend themselves for use as adoptive therapy due to diverse roles in orchestrating immune responses. Originally developed for use in cancer, agenT-797 is a donor-unrestricted allogeneic ex vivo expanded iNKT cell therapy. We conducted an open-label study in virally induced acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome-2 virus (trial registration NCT04582201).

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Unlabelled: Exportin-1 (XPO1), the main soluble nuclear export receptor in eukaryotic cells, is frequently overexpressed in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). A selective XPO1 inhibitor, selinexor, received approval as single agent for relapsed or refractory (R/R) DLBCL. Elucidating the mechanisms by which XPO1 overexpression supports cancer cells could facilitate further clinical development of XPO1 inhibitors.

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Autologous T cells engineered to express a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) specific for CD19 are approved for the treatment of various CD19 hematological malignancies. While CAR T cells induce objective responses in a majority of patients, relapse frequently occurs upon loss of CD19 expression by neoplastic cells. Radiation therapy (RT) has been successfully employed to circumvent the loss of CAR targets in preclinical models of pancreatic cancer.

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Aims: Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy (CAR-T) harnesses a patient's immune system to target cancer. There are sparse existing data characterizing death outcomes after CAR-T-related cardiotoxicity. This study examines the association between CAR-T-related severe cardiovascular events (SCE) and mortality.

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Previously, two men were cured of HIV-1 through CCR5Δ32 homozygous (CCR5Δ32/Δ32) allogeneic adult stem cell transplant. We report the first remission and possible HIV-1 cure in a mixed-race woman who received a CCR5Δ32/Δ32 haplo-cord transplant (cord blood cells combined with haploidentical stem cells from an adult) to treat acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Peripheral blood chimerism was 100% CCR5Δ32/Δ32 cord blood by week 14 post-transplant and persisted through 4.

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Peripheral T-cell lymphomas (PTCL) with T-follicular helper phenotype (PTCL-TFH) has recurrent mutations affecting epigenetic regulators, which may contribute to aberrant DNA methylation and chemoresistance. This phase 2 study evaluated oral azacitidine (CC-486) plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (CHOP) as initial treatment for PTCL. CC-486 at 300 mg daily was administered for 7 days before C1 of CHOP, and for 14 days before CHOP C2-6.

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Pulmonary complications constitute a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the post-allogenic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (alloHSCT) period. Although chest X-ray (CXR) is customarily used for screening, we have used chest computed tomography (CT) scans. To characterize the prevalence of abnormalities and explore their impact on alloHSCT eligibility and outcomes post-transplantation, we conducted a retrospective analysis using real-world data collected at our center for adult patients who were evaluated for alloHSCT between January 2013 and December 2020 and identified 511 eligible patients.

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Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) reactivation and EBV-related post-transplantation lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD) are often fatal complications after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT). The risk of EBV reactivation may be mitigated by depletion of B cells with rituximab. Starting in January 2020, allo-HSCT recipients undergoing T-cell depletion with alemtuzumab received 1 dose of rituximab before transplantation.

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Covid-19 vaccination is recommended in allogeneic transplant recipients, but many questions remain regarding its efficacy. Here we studied serologic responses in 145 patients who had undergone allogeneic transplantation using in vivo T-cell depletion. Median age was 57 (range 21-79) at transplantation and 61 (range 24-80) at vaccination.

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The authors discuss a case of CD19-negative diffuse large B-cell lymphoma with central nervous system relapse following CD19-directed CAR T-cell treatment. Absence of CD19 expression by the tumour cells presented a challenge for flow cytometry evaluation.

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Secondary central nervous system lymphoma (SCNSL) is associated with poor prognosis and new therapeutic approaches are needed. The pivotal trial that led to US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of axicabtagene ciloleucel excluded patients with SCNSL and human immunodeficiency virus. In this multi-institutional retrospective study, 14 SCNSL patients treated with axicabtagene ciloleucel, 3 of whom had human immunodeficiency virus, experienced rates of severe neurotoxicity and complete response of 32% and 58%, respectively.

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The incidence of adenovirus viremia and the role of screening in preventing adenovirus disease in adult transplant recipients are not well defined. Between January 2017 and May 2020, 262 allogeneic transplants were performed using T-cell depletion. Adenovirus viremia was found in 59 patients for a cumulative incidence of 10% by one hundred days and 23% (95% CI 20-26%) by one year.

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