Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in qatar: One-year anniversary.

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) offers potentially curative therapy for many hematologic and nonhematologic conditions. As a successful outcome of Qatar's National Cancer Strategy, the HSCT program was started in the National Center for Cancer Care and Research (NCCCR) in October 2015. The HSCT program in NCCCR is the only transplant program in Qatar and self-sufficient with all three core components: the stem cell collection facility, the stem cell processing facility, and the clinical program, which are locally available at Hamad Medical Corporation.

Primary Breast Lymphoma in a Woman: A Case Report and Review of the Literature.

Background: Primary breast lymphoma (PBL) is an unusual clinical entity accounting for 0.4-0.5% of all breast neoplasms.

Tubercular Meningitis and Lymphadenitis Mimicking a Relapse of Burkitt's Lymphoma on (18)F-FDG-PET/CT: A Case Report.

Tuberculosis (TB) can present with various forms and can occasionally be mistaken for malignancy. Hereby, we report a 53-year-old man diagnosed and treated for Burkitt's lymphoma in 2009 who achieved a complete remission confirmed by a computed tomography (CT) scan. During the follow-up 2 years later, he complained of left hip pain that warranted investigation with magnetic resonance imaging and whole-body (18)F-fludeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET)/CT which showed a benign lesion in the left hip associated with multiple lymph nodes in the chest and abdomen not amenable for biopsy.

Efficacy and Safety of Rituximab for Refractory and Relapsing Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura: A Cohort of 10 Cases.

Objective: Idiopathic thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) is a life-threatening disorder mediated by autoantibodies directed against ADAMTS13. This provides a rationale for the use of rituximab in this disorder. We report our experience and the outcome of 10 cases of TTP (9 refractory and 1 relapsing) successfully treated with rituximab in combination with plasma exchange (PE) and other immunosuppressive treatments.

Osteoblastic and vascular endothelial niches, their control on normal hematopoietic stem cells, and their consequences on the development of leukemia.

Stem cell self-renewal is regulated by intrinsic mechanisms and extrinsic signals mediated via specialized microenvironments called "niches." The best-characterized stem cell is the hematopoietic stem cell (HSC). Self-renewal and differentiation ability of HSC are regulated by two major elements: endosteal and vascular regulatory elements.

Fatal Strongyloides stercoralis hyper-infection in a patient with multiple myeloma.

Strongyloides stercoralis (S.S.) is a human intestinal parasite, which may lead to complicated strongyloidiasis.

Acquired pure megakaryocytic aplasia successfully treated with cyclosporine.

Acquired pure megakaryocytic aplasia is a rare hematological disorder characterized by thrombocytopenia with absent or markedly reduced megakaryocytes in the bone marrow. We report a case of a 25-year-old male diagnosed as acquired pure megakaryocytic aplasia. Treatment with prednisone and intravenous immunoglobulin failed, but he was successfully treated with cyclosporine, with complete remission after 90 days and normal platelet count maintained thereafter.

Two Ocular Infections during Conventional Chemotherapy in a Patient with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: A Case Report.

Viral retinitis due to cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is rare in patients with acute leukemia who did not receive hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. We report a case of CMV retinitis that developed in a 49-year-old patient with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The patient was treated with salvage chemotherapy using a hyper-CVAD regimen and did not receive hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.