Epidemiology of invasive aspergillosis and azole resistance in patients with acute leukaemia: the SEPIA Study.

Invasive aspergillosis (IA) is a serious hazard to high-risk haematological patients. There are increasing reports of azole-resistant Aspergillus spp. This study assessed the epidemiology of IA and azole-resistant Aspergillus spp.

Conventional chemotherapy (CHOEP-14) with rituximab or high-dose chemotherapy (MegaCHOEP) with rituximab for young, high-risk patients with aggressive B-cell lymphoma: an open-label, randomised, phase 3 trial (DSHNHL 2002-1).

Background: High-dose therapy (HDT) followed by transplantation of autologous haemopoietic stem cells is frequently done as part of first-line therapy in young patients with high-risk aggressive B-cell lymphoma. We investigated whether HDT with cytotoxic agents identical to those used for conventional therapy followed by autologous stem-cell transplantation (ASCT) improved survival outcome compared with conventional chemotherapy when rituximab was added to both modalities.

Methods: We did an open-label, randomised trial comparing conventional chemotherapy (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, etoposide, prednisone) and rituximab (R-CHOEP-14) with dose-escalated sequential HDT and rituximab (R-MegaCHOEP) followed by repetitive ASCT in high-risk (age-adjusted International Prognostic Index [IPI] 2 or 3) patients aged 18-60 years with aggressive B-cell lymphoma.

Regional spread of HIV-1 M subtype B in middle-aged patients by random env-C2V4 region sequencing.

A transmission cluster of HIV-1 M:B was identified in 11 patients with a median age of 52 (range 26-65) in North-East Germany by C2V4 region sequencing of the env gene of HIV-1, who-except of one-were not aware of any risky behaviour. The 10 male and 1 female patients deteriorated immunologically, according to their information made available, within 4 years after a putative HIV acquisition. Nucleic acid sequence analysis showed a R5 virus in all patients and in 7 of 11 a crown motif of the V3 loop, GPGSALFTT, which is found rarely.

The effect of prior exposure to imatinib on transplant-related mortality.

Background And Objectives: Imatinib is an effective treatment for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and Philadelphia chromosome-positive (Ph+) acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). However, relapse is common in patients with advanced or high risk disease. Such patients may be eligible for allogeneic stem cell transplantation (SCT), raising the question whether imatinib therapy may compromise the outcome of subsequent SCT.

Poor outcome of two children with relapsed state stage IV alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma after allogeneic stem cell transplantation.

The authors report on 2 boys, 11(1/2) and 13 years old, who received allogeneic stem cell transplantation (alloSCT) from their HLA-identical sibling after relapse of stage IV alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma. Both patients were transplanted in a non-remission status. After alloSCT both patients experienced disease progression at the primary tumor location sites and died due to the underlying disease 146 and 379 days after transplantation.