FarmaREL: An Italian pharmacovigilance project to monitor and evaluate adverse drug reactions in haematologic patients.

Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) reduce patients' quality of life, increase mortality and morbidity, and have a negative economic impact on healthcare systems. Nevertheless, the importance of ADR reporting is often underestimated. The project "FarmaREL" has been developed to monitor and evaluate ADRs in haematological patients and to increase pharmacovigilance culture among haematology specialists.

Molecular characterization of post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorders of donor origin occurring in liver transplant recipients.

Post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorders (PTLDs) represent a frequent complication of solid organ transplantation. Although most PTLDs arise from recipient lymphoid cells, a considerable fraction of cases may arise from donor B-cells. In an attempt to clarify the histogenesis and pathogenesis of PTLDs derived from donor B-cells, monoclonal PTLDs occurring in liver transplant recipients were chosen as a model to compare donor (D-PTLDs) versus recipient PTLDs (R-PTLDs).

Bacteria-eradicating therapy with doxycycline in ocular adnexal MALT lymphoma: a multicenter prospective trial.

Background: An association between ocular adnexal MALT lymphoma (OAL) and Chlamydia psittaci (Cp) infection has been proposed, and recent reports suggest that doxycycline treatment causes tumor regression in patients with Cp-related OAL. The effectiveness of doxycycline treatment in Cp-negative OAL has not been tested.

Methods: In a prospective trial, 27 OAL patients (15 newly diagnosed and 12 having experienced relapse) were given a 3-week course of doxycycline therapy.

Analysis of immunoglobulin heavy and light chain variable genes in post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorders.

Post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorders (PTLD) derive from antigen-experienced B-cells and represent a major complication of solid organ transplantation. We characterized usage, mutation frequency and mutation pattern of immunoglobulin variable (IGV) gene rearrangements in 50 PTLD (polymorphic PTLD, n=10; diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, n=35; and Burkitt/Burkitt-like lymphoma, n=5). Among PTLD yielding clonal IGV amplimers, a functional IGV heavy chain (IGHV) rearrangement was found in 40/50 (80.

Rituximab in patients with mucosal-associated lymphoid tissue-type lymphoma of the ocular adnexa.

Eight patients with ocular adnexal mucosal-associated lymphpid tissue (MALT) lymphoma were treated with rituximab, at diagnosis (n=5) or relapse (n=3). All untreated patients achieved lymphoma regression, while relapsing patients had no benefit. Four responding patients experienced early relapse.

Bone marrow hypoplasia complicating tacrolimus (FK506) therapy.

Tacrolimus (FK506)-induced hematological toxicity, which has rarely been reported in transplant recipients, may result in anemia episodes, reported mainly in kidney and heart transplant recipients, sporadic cases of thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura/hemolytic uremic syndrome, red cell aplasia (4 reported cases), and generalized bone marrow suppression (only 1 reported case). We describe a case of a liver transplant recipient with pancytopenia that appeared during immunosuppressive therapy with tacrolimus. This patient suffered from progressive anemia, leukopenia with severe neutropenia, and mild thrombocytopenia; bone marrow biopsy showed hypoplasia (20% of cellularity) without dysplasia.

Incidence of novel N-glycosylation sites in the B-cell receptor of lymphomas associated with immunodeficiency.

Novel N-glycosylation sites are introduced by somatic mutation into the V genes of the majority of follicular lymphomas. Sites are positively selected and rare in normal memory B cells, indicating a potential role in tumour survival in the germinal centre (GC). The incidence of c.

Utility of percutaneous lung biopsy for diagnosing filamentous fungal infections in hematologic malignancies.

Background And Objectives: The incidence of invasive filamentous fungal infections in hematologic patients is increasing as a consequence of high dose chemotherapy and bone marrow transplant procedures. Mortality is usually very high. The diagnosis is often difficult and yet a fast, accurate diagnosis is of fundamental importance for treating the infection and planning subsequent management of the hematologic disease.

Frequent aberrant promoter hypermethylation of O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase and death-associated protein kinase genes in immunodeficiency-related lymphomas.

Aberrant promoter hypermethylation is a mechanism of tumour suppressor gene inactivation. We explored aberrant promoter hypermethylation of multiple genes in 88 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-non Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL), 25 post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorders (PTLD) and five common variable immunodeficiency (CVI)-related NHL. Twenty-six of 79 (32.

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) load and interleukin-10 in EBV-positive and EBV-negative post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorders.

Post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorders (PTLDs) are heterogeneous severe complications occurring in 1-10% of transplanted patients. In most cases, PTLDs are associated with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection but, recently, some clinical studies have reported an increasing number of EBV-negative PTLDs. Several studies have emphasized the critical role of the early identification of patients at risk for PTLD, in prompting the adoption of either pre-emptive strategies or timely treatment.

Molecular histogenesis of posttransplantation lymphoproliferative disorders.

Posttransplantation lymphoproliferative disorders (PTLDs) represent a serious complication of solid organ transplantation. This study assessed the molecular histogenesis of 52 B-cell monoclonal PTLDs, including 12 polymorphic PTLDs (P-PTLDs), 36 diffuse large B-cell lymphomas (DLBCLs), and 4 Burkitt/Burkitt-like lymphomas (BL/BLLs). Somatic hypermutation (SHM) of immunoglobulin variable (IgV) genes documented that most monoclonal B-cell PTLDs (75% P-PTLDs, 91.

Late response to cyclosporine in refractory thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura.

Plasma exchange (PEX) with fresh frozen plasma, usually in association with steroid therapy, has been shown to be the first-line treatment of thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura. It works by removing ultralarge von Willebrand factor (vWF) multimers and inhibitory antibody and by supplying normal protease. For patients with disease refractory to PEX, there is no standardized treatment.

Post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorders: improved outcome after clinico-pathologically tailored treatment.

Background And Objectives: Clinical and pathologic variability of post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorders (PTLDs), their aggressive behavior and the recognized therapy-related toxicity make management of patients with these disorders difficult. Assessment of first-line treatment and identification of prognostic factors need to be better defined.

Design And Methods: Data on 40 PTLDs which developed in adult solid organ recipients were analyzed in order to evaluate clinical and pathologic features, response to treatment and prognostic factors.