Post-Transplant Cyclophosphamide versus Anti-Thymocyte Globulin in Patients with Hematological Malignancies Treated with Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation from Haploidentical and Matched Unrelated Donors: A Real-Life Experience.

Post-transplant cyclophosphamide (PTCY) is widely used as graft versus host disease (GvHD) prophylaxis in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) recipients, with reported clinical benefits in patients who underwent transplant from a matched unrelated donor (MUD). However, real-life data on clinical efficacy and safety of PTCY in haploidentical and MUD transplantations are still poor. In our real-life retrospective observational study, we included a total of 40 consecutive adult patients who underwent haploidentical or MUD HSCT for various hematological malignancies and who received PTCY ( = 24) or ATG ( = 16) as GvHD prophylaxis at Hematology Units from hospitals of Salerno and Avellino, Italy, and clinical outcomes were compared.

The cerebellum monitors errors and entrains executive networks.

Frontal midline θ (Fmθ) activity occurs in medial prefrontal cortices (mPFC), when expected and actual outcomes conflict. Cerebellar forward models could inform the mPFC about this mismatch. To verify this hypothesis we correlated the mPFC activation during a visuomotor tracking task (VM) with performance accuracy, in control and cerebellum-lesioned participants.

Safety and Efficacy of Subcutaneous Rituximab in Previously Untreated Patients with CD20+ Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma or Follicular Lymphoma: Results from an Italian Phase IIIb Study.

Subcutaneous (SC) rituximab may be beneficial in terms of convenience and tolerability, with potentially fewer and less severe administration-related reactions (ARRs) compared to the intravenous (IV) form. This report presents the results of a phase IIIb study conducted in Italy. The study included adult patients with CD20+ DLBCL or FL having received at least one full dose of IV RTX 375 mg/m during induction or maintenance.

Health-related quality of life, symptom burden, and comorbidity in long-term survivors of acute promyelocytic leukemia.

The objective of this study was to investigate health-related quality of life (HRQOL), symptom burden, and comorbidity profile in long-term acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) survivors treated with standard chemotherapy. Overall, 307 long-term APL survivors were invited to participate. HRQOL was assessed with the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) and compared with that of age and sex-matched controls from the general population.

International trade of environmental goods in gravity models.

Environmental goods are goods used or produced by industry that reduce air and water pollution and optimize the use of resources in production. Despite several Sustainable Development Goals explicitly calling for resilient and sustainable development, the diffusion of such goods is still low, especially in developing countries. Only sporadic research on the determinants of international trade of environmental goods is available.

Partial splenectomy: A case series and systematic review of the literature.

Backgrounds/aims: Partial splenectomy (PS) is a surgical option for splenic mass, in order to reduce postoperative complications and preserve the splenic function. Despite this, data in literature is still scarce. The present study aimed to reveal our recent experience and provide a comprehensive overview of the feasibility and complications related to various surgical approaches.

EEG Theta Dynamics within Frontal and Parietal Cortices for Error Processing during Reaching Movements in a Prism Adaptation Study Altering Visuo-Motor Predictive Planning.

Modulation of frontal midline theta (fmθ) is observed during error commission, but little is known about the role of theta oscillations in correcting motor behaviours. We investigate EEG activity of healthy partipants executing a reaching task under variable degrees of prism-induced visuo-motor distortion and visual occlusion of the initial arm trajectory. This task introduces directional errors of different magnitudes.

High CD20+ background cells predict a favorable outcome in classical Hodgkin lymphoma and antagonize CD68+ macrophages.

We studied by immunohistochemistry the background CD20 + cells in 131 cases of classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL). High CD20 + dispersed cells (CD20BG) showed a significant correlation with longer overall survival (OS) and a trend toward improved progression-free survival (PFS). At multivariate analysis high CD20BG was also an independent prognostic factor of improved PFS and OS.

High-dose cytarabine in induction treatment improves the outcome of adult patients younger than age 46 years with acute myeloid leukemia: results of the EORTC-GIMEMA AML-12 trial.

Purpose: Cytarabine plays a pivotal role in the treatment of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Most centers use 7 to 10 days of cytarabine at a daily dose of 100 to 200 mg/m(2) for remission induction. Consensus has not been reached on the benefit of higher dosages of cytarabine.

Transfusion-dependent low-risk myelodysplastic patients receiving deferasirox: Long-term follow-up.

Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDSs) are characterized by ineffective hematopoiesis that results in peripheral cytopenias. Anemia is the most common symptom of MDS and the majority of patients become transfusion-dependent with the risk of iron overload, which may lead to cardiac, hepatic and endocrine complications. Deferasirox is an orally available iron chelator administered once-daily in transfusion-dependent patients with various chronic anemias.

Prognostic role of tumor-associated macrophages and angiogenesis in classical Hodgkin lymphoma.

We studied by immunohistochemistry CD68 + tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) and angiogenesis in 121 consecutive cases of uniformly treated classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL). High TAM count showed a significant correlation with age ≥ 45, mixed cellularity subtype and high β₂-microglobulin level. Vessel density (VD) was unrelated to clinicopathological features, while a significant correlation was found between TAM count and VD.

A simple prognostic scoring system for newly diagnosed cytogenetically normal acute myeloid leukemia: retrospective analysis of 530 patients.

We retrospectively analyzed the data of 337 patients with cytogenetically normal (CN) acute myeloid leukemia (AML), aged ≤ 65 years (training set). A prognostic index score (PIS) was calculated by totaling the score derived from the regression coefficients of each clinical variable, significantly associated with prognosis by multivariate analysis. The variables that were independent prognostic factors for event-free survival (EFS) and overall survival (OS) in the training set were: age ≥ 50 years, secondary AML and white blood cell count (WBC) ≥ 20 × 10(9)/L.

AIDA 0493 protocol for newly diagnosed acute promyelocytic leukemia: very long-term results and role of maintenance.

All-trans-retinoic acid (ATRA) has greatly modified the prognosis of acute promyelocytic leukemia; however, the role of maintenance in patients in molecular complete remission after consolidation treatment is still debated. From July 1993 to May 2000, 807 genetically proven newly diagnosed acute promyelocytic leukemia patients received ATRA plus idarubicin as induction, followed by 3 intensive consolidation courses. Thereafter, patients reverse-transcribed polymerase chain reaction-negative for the PML-RARA fusion gene were randomized into 4 arms: oral 6-mercaptopurine and intramuscular methotrexate (arm 1); ATRA alone (arm 2); 3 months of arm1 alternating to 15 days of arm 2 (arm 3); and no further therapy (arm 4).

Acute promyelocytic leukemia in patients aged over 60 years: multicenter experience of 34 consecutive unselected patients.

Treatment of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) has evolved over recent years, resulting in a cure rate of 75-80%. However, the prognosis of older patients with APL remains poorer as compared to young adults because of substantial morbidity of either induction or consolidation therapy. We describe therapeutic results in a series of 34 consecutive APL patients aged over 60 years, with particular emphasis on those patients managed outside of clinical trials because of comorbidities at diagnosis.

Sequential continuous infusion of fludarabine and cytarabine associated with liposomal daunorubicin (DaunoXome) (FLAD) in primary refractory or relapsed adult acute myeloid leukemia patients.

A large proportion of adult patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) relapse after treatment, and some of them are resistant to primary induction chemotherapy. Sixty-one patients from seven hematological centers with poor-risk AML, primary refractory (n = 16), or relapsed (n = 45) were treated with a salvage regimen, including fludarabine (2 days) and cytarabine (3 days) in a sequential continuous infusion, associated with liposomal daunorubicin (3 days) (FLAD). Complete response rate was 44% and 56% for refractory and relapsed patients, respectively, with an overall response rate of 52% (32 of 61).

M4 acute myeloid leukemia: the role of eosinophilia and cytogenetics in treatment response and survival. The GIMEMA experience.

Background: Myelomonocytic acute myeloid leukemia (M4-AML) is frequently associated with the cytogenetic marker inv(16) and/or the presence of eosinophilia. The aim of this study was to analyze the incidence and prognostic role of these factors in a large series of patients.

Design And Methods: Adult patients with acute myeloid leukemia consecutively enrolled in the GIMEMA trials AML10 and LAM99p were retrospectively analyzed.

ERK1/2 phosphorylation is an independent predictor of complete remission in newly diagnosed adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Extracellular signal-regulated kinase-1/2 (ERK1/2) is frequently found constitutively activated (p-ERK1/2) in hematopoietic diseases, suggesting a role in leukemogenesis. The aim of this study was to assess the expression and clinical role of p-ERK1/2 in adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). In 131 primary samples from adult de novo ALL patients enrolled in the Gruppo Italiano per le Malattie Ematologiche dell'Adulto (GIMEMA) Leucemia Acute Linfoide (LAL) 2000 protocol and evaluated by flow cytometry, constitutive ERK1/2 activation was found in 34.

Mutated nucleophosmin detects clonal multilineage involvement in acute myeloid leukemia: Impact on WHO classification.

Because of a lack of specific clonality markers, information on lineage involvement and cell of origin of acute myeloid leukemia with normal karyotype (AML-NK), is missing. Because Nucleophosmin (NPM) gene is frequently mutated in AML-NK and causes aberrant NPM cytoplasmic localization (NPMc+), it was used as an AML lineage clonality marker. Clonal NPM exon 12 mutations were detected in myeloid, monocytic, erythroid, and megakaryocytic cells but not in fibroblasts or endothelia that were laser-microdissected from 3 patients with NPMc+ AML.

Complete response of severe symptomatic bone marrow metastases from heavily pretreated breast cancer with a 3-weekly trastuzumab schedule. A clinical case.

Overexpression of HER-2/neu in breast cancer has been associated with more aggressive disease and poor overall survival. Trastuzumab, a recombinant humanized monoclonal antibody with high affinity for the HER-2 protein, inhibits the growth of breast cancer cells overexpressing HER-2. Trastuzumab showed, as second-line treatment, 15% of objective response in metastatic breast cancer.

Autologous stem-cell transplantation for patients with acute myeloid leukemia aged over 60 yr.

Objectives: Preliminary reports have suggested that autologous stem-cell transplantation (ASCT) is feasible in elderly patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The objective of this study was to describe the disease characteristics and treatment results from a series of 22 elderly AML patients undergoing ASCT.

Methods: The median age was 64 yr (range 61-71).

Induction therapy with idarubicin alone significantly influences event-free survival duration in patients with newly diagnosed hypergranular acute promyelocytic leukemia: final results of the GIMEMA randomized study LAP 0389 with 7 years of minimal follow-up.

Shortly before the all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) era, the GIMEMA cooperative group initiated a randomized study comparing idarubicin (IDA) alone with IDA plus arabinosylcytosine (Ara-C) as induction treatment in patients with newly diagnosed hypergranular acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). Of the 257 patients evaluable for induction treatment, 131 were randomized to receive IDA alone (arm A) and 126 to receive IDA + Ara-C (arm B). Treatment in arm A consisted of 10 mg/m(2) IDA daily for 6 consecutive days, whereas in arm B it consisted of 12 mg/m(2) IDA daily for 4 days combined with 200 mg/m(2) Ara-C daily in continuous infusion for 7 days.

A randomized study of the efficacy of postconsolidation therapy in adult acute nonlymphocytic leukemia: a report of the Italian Cooperative Group GIMEMA.

The Italian Co-operative Group GIMEMA conducted a randomized trial in adult acute nonlymphocytic leukemia (ANLL) to assess the role of postconsolidation treatment. Of 448 evaluable patients entered into the study, 305 (68%) achieved a complete remission after a standard induction with daunorubicin and cytosine arabinoside (3 + 7; 2 + 5). Those in remission after a consolidation therapy including 4 courses of daunorubicin, cytosine arabinoside, and 6-thioguanine (DAT) were allocated to one of three arms: no treatment, conventional maintenance, or intensive postconsolidation therapy.