Low-dose pembrolizumab for relapsed/refractory Hodgkin lymphoma: high efficacy with minimal toxicity.

Five patients with refractory/relapsed classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL), four having failed multiple lines of chemotherapy and brentuximab vedotin, were treated with low-dose pembrolizumab (median dose 100 mg, range: 100-200 mg, every 3 weeks). Complete response (CR) was achieved in four patients (80%), after a median cumulative dose of merely 495 (300-800) milligrams. Three CR patients have continued to receive pembrolizumab for a median of 16 (14-25) cycles, remaining in CR for a median of 18 (9-18) months.

Clinicopathologic features and prognostic indicators in Chinese patients with myelofibrosis.

Objective: To define the clinicopathologic features, outcome, and prognostic indicators of myelofibrosis (MF) in Asian patients.

Methods: Two hundred and seventy consecutive Chinese patients (primary MF, n = 207; post-polycythemia vera MF, n = 27; and post-essential thrombocythemia MF, n = 36) from seven regional referral hospitals were analyzed.

Results: The median overall survival (OS) for primary MF was 66 months.

Tobacco smoking, family history, and the risk of nasopharyngeal carcinoma: a case-referent study in Hong Kong Chinese.

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the associations of tobacco smoking and family history of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) with the risk of NPC in Hong Kong Chinese.

Methods: Between June 2010 and December 2012, we conducted a case-referent study with 352 incident cases and 410 referents in Hong Kong. We collected information on tobacco smoking and family history of NPC via face-to-face interviews.

Domestic incense burning and nasopharyngeal carcinoma: a case-control study in Hong Kong Chinese.

Incense burning is a powerful producer of carcinogens and has been considered as a risk factor for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). We conducted a case-control study and case-only analyses to investigate the effect of incense burning and its interaction with genetic background on NPC risk among Hong Kong Chinese. Between June 2010 and December 2012, we recruited 352 incident cases of NPC and 410 controls.

Oral arsenic trioxide-based maintenance regimens for first complete remission of acute promyelocytic leukemia: a 10-year follow-up study.

Seventy-six patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) in first complete remission after induction and consolidation by daunorubicin and cytosine arabinoside received oral arsenic trioxide (As(2)O(3))-based maintenance. Three regimens were used: oral As(2)O(3) (10 mg/day, regimen A, n = 20), oral As(2)O(3) plus all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA, 45 mg/m(2) per day, regimen AA, n = 19), and oral As(2)O(3) plus ATRA plus ascorbic acid (1000 mg/day, regimen AAA, n = 37), each given for 2 weeks every 2 months for 2 years. Patients receiving A, AA, and AAA maintenance did not differ significantly in clinicopathologic features and risk factors.

Cryoglobulinaemia: clinical and laboratory perspectives.

Cryoglobulins are immunoglobulins that precipitate in the serum upon cooling to below core body temperature and re-dissolve at higher temperatures. Cryoglobulinaemia may be life-threatening. The three types of cryoglobulinaemia are associated with a wide spectrum of haematological, autoimmune, and chronic infectious diseases, especially hepatitis C infection.

Dose-by-dose virological and hematological responses to intravenous immunoglobulin in an immunocompromised patient with persistent parvovirus B19 infection.

A 42-year-old male with stage IV mantle cell lymphoma received chemotherapy and autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation. He developed pancytopaenia, and bone marrow examination indicated a parvovirus B19 (PVB 19)-induced red cell aplasia, confirmed by virological tests. Multiple doses of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) were given over the following months, with blood samples being taken after each dose for quantitative PVB 19 DNA and hematological testing to assess the response.