5 years DKMS Chile: approach, results and impact of the first unrelated stem cell donor center in Chile.

Introduction: Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) is performed worldwide to treat blood cancer and other life-threatening blood disorders. As successful transplantation requires an HLA-compatible donor, unrelated donor centers and registries have been established worldwide to identify donors for patients without a family match. Ethnic minorities are underrepresented in large donor registries.

[Treatment of Hodgkin disease relapse after allogeneic transplantation with nivolumab. Report of two cases].

Hodgkin's Lymphoma has a very good prognosis. In the unusually refractory patients allogeneic transplantation offers a chance of cure. The so-called checkpoint inhibitors, such as Nivolumab can play a relevant role in this type of patients.

Single and combined effect of retinoic acid and rapamycin modulate the generation, activity and homing potential of induced human regulatory T cells.

Adoptive transfer of CD4+CD25+FOXP3+ regulatory T cells (Treg cells) has been successfully utilized to treat graft versus host disease and represents a promising strategy for the treatment of autoimmune diseases and transplant rejection. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of all-trans retinoic acid (atRA) and rapamycin (RAPA) on the number, phenotype, homing markers expression, DNA methylation, and function of induced human Treg cells in short-term cultures. Naive T cells were polyclonally stimulated and cultured for five days in the presence of different combinations of IL-2, TGF-β1, atRA and RAPA.

Predictors of severe sepsis not clinically apparent during the first twenty-four hours of hospitalization in children with cancer, neutropenia, and fever: a prospective, multicenter trial.

Background: Severe sepsis is not clinically apparent during the first 24 hours of hospitalization in most children with cancer and febrile neutropenia (FN), delaying targeted interventions that could impact mortality. The aim of this study was to prospectively evaluate biomarkers obtained within 24 hours of hospitalization as predictors of severe sepsis before it becomes clinically evident.

Methods: Children with cancer, admitted with FN at high risk for an invasive bacterial infection in 6 public hospitals in Santiago, Chile, were monitored throughout their clinical course for occurrence of severe sepsis.

Admission clinical and laboratory factors associated with death in children with cancer during a febrile neutropenic episode.

Background: Early identification of children with cancer at risk for death during a febrile neutropenic (FN) episode may increase their possibility for survival. Our aim was to identify at the time of admission, clinical and laboratory variables differing significantly among children who survived or died during a FN episode.

Methods: In a prospective, multicenter study, children admitted with a high-risk FN episode were uniformly evaluated at enrollment and managed according to a national consensus protocol.

Establishment of a pediatric HSCT program in a public hospital in Chile.

Background: In Chile, survival estimates for pediatric patients with cancer are comparable to those in the United States and Western Europe. Approximately 80% of these patients are treated at government-supported centers, and an estimated 65% are cured. We reasoned that cure rates could be further improved if transplantation with hematopoietic stem cells were available for patients with chemotherapy-resistant malignancy.