Limited efficacy of 3 + 7 plus gemtuzumab ozogamycin in newly diagnosed fit intermediate genetic risk acute myeloid leukemia patients.

Background: Gemtuzumab-ozogamycin (GO) is approved in combination with high-dose chemotherapy for treatment-naïve low- and intermediate-risk acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

Aims: In this retrospective real-life multicenter study, we reported efficacy and safety of GO plus high-dose chemotherapy in newly diagnosed AML patients.

Methods And Results: A total of 31 fit low- and intermediate-risk AML patients treated with GO-based regimens were retrospectively included in this real-life multicenter study, and results were compared with a control cohort treated with 3 + 7 alone.

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.

14q32 rearrangements deregulating BCL11B mark a distinct subgroup of T-lymphoid and myeloid immature acute leukemia.

Acute leukemias (ALs) of ambiguous lineage are a heterogeneous group of high-risk leukemias characterized by coexpression of myeloid and lymphoid markers. In this study, we identified a distinct subgroup of immature acute leukemias characterized by a broadly variable phenotype, covering acute myeloid leukemia (AML, M0 or M1), T/myeloid mixed-phenotype acute leukemia (T/M MPAL), and early T-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ETP-ALL). Rearrangements at 14q32/BCL11B are the cytogenetic hallmark of this entity.

Minimal Residual Disease in Acute Myeloid Leukemia of Adults: Determination, Prognostic Impact and Clinical Applications.

Pretreatment assessment of cytogenetic/genetic signature of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) has been consistently shown to play a major prognostic role but also to fail at predicting outcome on individual basis, even in low-risk AML. Therefore, we are in need of further accurate methods to refine the patients' risk allocation process, distinguishing more adequately those who are likely to recur from those who are not. In this view, there is now evidence that the submicroscopic amounts of leukemic cells (called minimal residual disease, MRD), measured during the course of treatment, indicate the quality of response to therapy.

A cluster of Geotrichum clavatum (Saprochaete clavata) infection in haematological patients: a first Italian report and review of literature.

Invasive fungal infections, usually Aspergillus and Candida, represent a major cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with malignant haematological diseases, but in the last years rare fungal infections have more frequently been reported. Here, we report the clinical history of three patients affected with haematological malignancies who developed an infection caused by Geotrichum (G.) clavatum.

Clinical significance of bax/bcl-2 ratio in chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

In chronic lymphocytic leukemia the balance between the pro-apoptotic and anti-apoptotic members of the bcl-2 family is involved in the pathogenesis, chemorefractoriness and clinical outcome. Moreover, the recently proposed anti-bcl-2 molecules, such as ABT-199, have emphasized the potential role of of bcl-2 family proteins in the context of target therapies. We investigated bax/bcl-2 ratio by flow cytometry in 502 patients and identified a cut off of 1.

Central nervous system involvement in adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia: diagnostic tools, prophylaxis, and therapy.

In adult patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), Central Nervous System (CNS) involvement is associated with a very poor prognosis. The diagnostic assessment of this condition relies on the use of neuroradiology, conventional cytology (CC) and flow cytometry (FCM). Among these approaches, which is the gold standard it is still a matter of debate.

High sensitivity of flow cytometry improves detection of occult leptomeningeal disease in acute lymphoblastic leukemia and lymphoblastic lymphoma.

Conventional cytology (CC) of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) fails to demonstrate malignant cells in up to 45 % of patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia or lymphoblastic lymphoma (ALL/LL) in whom occult leptomeningeal disease is present. Flow cytometry (FCM) is considered more sensitive than CC, but clinical implications of CC negativity/CC positivity are not yet established. CSF samples from 38 adult patients with newly diagnosed ALL/LL were examined.

Phase II Study of Bortezomib as a Single Agent in Patients with Previously Untreated or Relapsed/Refractory Acute Myeloid Leukemia Ineligible for Intensive Therapy.

We explored the safety and efficacy of bortezomib given as single agent in patients with untreated or relapsed/refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML), unfit for conventional chemotherapy. Fourteen patients were treated with bortezomib 1.5 mg/m(2) administered twice weekly for two weeks, every 3 weeks.

Clinical pharmacy workload in medical and surgical patients: effect of patient partition, disease complexity and major disease category.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to measure the time spent providing clinical pharmacy services to individual patient episodes for general medical and surgical patients and to measure the effect of patient presentation and complexity on this workload.

Methods: We conducted a 5-month study at The Northern Hospital and Western Hospital in Melbourne, Australia, during 2006. Pharmacists recorded a defined range of activities that they provided for individual patients, including the actual times required for these tasks.