Poor performance of the total kappa/lambda light chain quantification in the diagnosis and follow-up of patients with multiple myeloma.

Background: The gold standard for paraproteinemia screening in plasma cell disorders has been serum protein electro- phoresis (SPE) with immunofixation electrophoresis (IFx); serum total and free light chain quantifications have also been used.

Objective: To define the role of SPE, IFx and serum total light chain (sLC) determinations in patients with multiple myeloma (MM), both at diagnosis and at maximum response during treatment follow-up.

Material And Methods: These serological studies were performed in a group of 62 patients with MM at diagnosis, and in a subset of 29 patients at the point of maximum response to treatment.

Oral versus intravenous fludarabine as part of a reduced-intensity conditioning for allogeneic stem cell transplantation.

Background: In 2003, oral fludarabine was introduced in the USA for the treatment of patients with hematologic malignancies as an alternative to its intravenous (i.v.) formulation; in 2008, it was introduced in México while the i.

Secondary malignancies after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation using reduced-intensity conditioning and outpatient conduction.

Background: Patients given allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplants (HSCT) may develop secondary malignant neoplasms (SMN). Several variables have been identified but there are no data about the incidence of this complication in individuals given HSCT using reduced-intensity conditioning (RIC) methods.

Objective: Define the incidence of SMN in patients given HSCT using a RIC preparative regimen conducted on an outpatient basis.

Diagnosing and treating mixed phenotype acute leukemia: a multicenter 10-year experience in México.

Mixed phenotype acute leukemia (MPAL) in adults represents nearly 2 to 5 % of all acute leukemia cases. There are two large studies throughout the world and only case reports and small series have been reported in Latin America. This study retrospectively analyses the clinical characteristics and survival of 27 patients with MPAL evaluated in three medical institutions of Mexico.

Primary thrombophilia in México X: a prospective study of the treatment of the sticky platelet syndrome.

Introduction: The sticky platelet syndrome (SPS) is a common cause of thrombosis. There are no prospective studies concerning treatment.

Objective: To analyze changes in platelet hyperaggregability of patients with SPS who were given antiplatelet drugs and to assess its association with rethrombosis.

Simultaneous romiplostin, eltrombopag, and prednisone were successful in severe thrombocytopenia of Evans syndrome refractory to hydrocortisone, splenectomy, intravenous IgG, and rituximab.

A 58-year-old woman presented with rheumatoid arthritis-associated Evans syndrome (simultaneous autoimmune hemolytic anemia and autoimmune thrombocytopenic purpura); she was treated unsuccessfully with steroids, romiplostin, rituximab, immunoglobulin G, and splenectomy. The platelet count responded to the combined use of prednisone, eltrombopag, and romiplostin. It may be more reasonable to use combined treatments than sequential monotherapies.

In pursuit of the graft-versus-myeloma effect: a single institution experience.

Partly because of a potential graft-versus-myeloma effect, allogeneic stem cell transplantation is a potentially curative treatment modality in patients with multiple myeloma (MM). Initial attempts have been hampered by the high transplant-related mortality in this setting. With a reduction of toxicity, allogeneic transplant approaches with reduced-intensity conditioning (RIC) have been utilized, although they are subjected to continued disease progression and relapse following transplantation.