The role of flow cytometric immunophenotyping in myelodysplastic syndromes.

The myelodysplastic syndromes (MDSs) are a group of heterogeneous hematological disorders characterized by bilineage or trilineage dysplastic morphology, abnormal clonal populations, progressive bone marrow failure, and a high rate of transformation to acute myeloid leukemia. A combination of morphology, to detect multilineage dysplasia in the bone marrow and peripheral blood, and cytogenetics to detect characteristic clonal abnormalities, is used in establishing a diagnosis of MDS. Although diagnostic criteria are well established, a significant number of patients have blood and bone marrow findings that make diagnosis and classification difficult.

Dose-dense R-CHOP-14 supported by pegfilgrastim in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma: a phase II study of feasibility and toxicity.

Background And Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and toxicity of CHOP-14, with rituximab (R-CHOP-14), supported by pegfilgrastim, in untreated diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL).

Design And Methods: This study included 50 patients with DLBCL with a median age of 55 years (range: 22-70). Sixty-two percent had an International Prognostic Index score >1, 40% had bulky disease and 52% had stage IV disease.

Flow cytometric immunophenotyping analysis of patterns of antigen expression in non-Hodgkin's B cell lymphoma in samples obtained from different anatomic sites.

Multiparametric clinical flow cytometry has evolved from two-parameter quantitative assessment of lymphocytes to assessment of many qualitative parameters of suspensions obtained from bone marrow, peripheral blood, and lymph nodes for hematopathology. Nowadays, lymphoma immunophenotyping is a necessary complement to morphology and molecular parameters in the diagnosis and monitoring of human hematopoietic malignancies. The aim of the present study was to determine whether immunophenotypic differences could be used to distinguish between non-Hodgkin's B cell lymphoma (NHL-B) and the normal B cell subpopulation by assessing the variability in the patterns of expression of some lymphoid antigens (CD5, CD19, FMC7, CD23, CD20, CD79b, CD38, CD22, CD10, sIgkappa, sIglambda, mIgA, mIgG, mIgM, and mIgD) in specimens obtained from patients with NHL-B.

Targeting multiple myeloma cells and their bone marrow microenvironment.

Although multiple myeloma (MM) is sensitive to chemotherapy and radiation therapy, long-term disease-free survival is rare, and MM remains incurable despite conventional and high-dose therapies. Direct (cell-cell contact) and soluble (via cytokines) forms of interactions between MM cells and bone marrow stroma regulate growth, survival, and homing of MM cells. These interactions also play a critical role in angiogenesis and in myeloma bone disease.

Multidimensional flow cytometry immunophenotyping of hematologic malignancy.

Immunophenotyping of hematologic malignancies represents one of the most relevant clinical applications of flow cytometry. Classically, leukemic/lymphomatous cells have been considered to reflect the immunophenotypic characteristics of different precursors and mature healthy cells blocked at certain differentiation stages. Recently, accumulating evidence has shown that neoplastic cells display several aberrant phenotypic patterns.

Risk of second cancer in patients with hairy cell leukemia: long-term follow-up.

Purpose: The purpose of the present study was to assess the risk of second cancers in patients with hairy cell leukemia (HCL).

Patients And Methods: We investigated the incidence of additional cancers in those patients registered in the nationwide registry of the Italian Cooperative Group for the Study of HCL, asking the cooperating centers for additional information on initial and subsequent therapies and on time and type of second malignancies, if they developed. Here we report the final results of this survey, consisting of 54 cases of second malignancies (excluding nine cases of epithelial skin cancer) which developed in 54 patients of 1,022 with adequate follow-up.