Publications by authors named "Koichi Hirakawa"

Article Synopsis
  • Azacitidine (AZA) is a standard treatment for patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) who cannot undergo transplantation, but early treatment often faces interruptions due to hematological toxicities.
  • A multicenter retrospective study involving 212 MDS patients examined factors affecting survival during the early phase of AZA therapy, specifically focusing on severe cytopenia and its impact on patient outcomes.
  • The study identified that severe thrombocytopenia and very poor risk cytogenetics are key independent prognostic factors, leading to the creation of the Kyoto Conditional Survival Scoring System to better assess patient risks during AZA treatment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Multiple myeloma reduces cellular and humoral immunity. Optimal prediction of antibody response to anti-severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccine in patients with MM and related disorders is essential to prevent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. This study analyzed the humoral response to the anti-SARS-CoV-2 messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccine and its associated factor in 83 patients from June to November 2021 at seven member institutions of the Kyoto Clinical Hematology Study Group.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The prognostic impact of patient-related factors, including age, nutritional parameters, and inflammation status, in higher-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (HR-MDS) has been largely unexplored. This multicenter retrospective study aimed to establish a real-world practice-based prognostic model for HR-MDS by considering both disease- and patient-related parameters in 233 patients treated with AZA monotherapy at seven institutions. We found that anemia, presence of circulating blasts in peripheral blood, low absolute lymphocyte count, low total cholesterol (T-cho) and albumin serum levels, complex karyotype, and del(7q) or  - 7 were poor prognostic factors.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Primary ocular adnexal mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma (POAML) is the most common subtype of indolent ocular adnexal lymphomas. Although radiotherapy (RT) is the standard of care for localized POAML, it can occasionally lead to permanent side effects. Other treatment strategies, such as rituximab (R) monotherapy and immunochemotherapy, have been used for POAML treatment, but their long-term benefits and relative merits remain unclear.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Etoposide plus cisplatin (EP) combined with concurrent accelerated hyperfractionated thoracic radiotherapy (AHTRT) is the standard treatment strategy for unresectable limited-disease (LD) small cell lung cancer (SCLC), which has remained unchanged for over two decades. Based on a previous study that confirmed the non-inferiority of amrubicin (AMR) plus cisplatin (AP) when compared with EP for extensive-disease (ED) SCLC, we have previously conducted a phase I study assessing AP with concurrent TRT (2 Gy/time, once daily, 50 Gy in total) for LD-SCLC therapy. Our findings revealed that AP with concurrent TRT could prolong overall survival to 39.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Carfilzomib (CFZ) constitutes powerful combinatory therapy for relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM); however, cardiovascular adverse events (CVAEs) have been shown as major treatment obstacles with the use of CFZ. Along with our multi-institutional prospective observational study by the Kyoto Clinical Hematology Study Group on the efficacy and safety of CFZ-based treatments (UMIN000025108), we here performed an ad hoc analysis of CFZ-related CVAEs in 50 patients with RRMM. We analyzed the association between CFZ-related CVAEs and pre-planned examinations, including patients' background, electrocardiographic findings, echocardiographic findings, and serum/plasma levels of 18 potential candidate biomarkers.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study analyzes data from 50 patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma to understand how frailty, poor performance status, and advanced age affect treatment outcomes and side effects of carfilzomib therapy.
  • It found that while overall response rates were not significantly impacted by these vulnerability criteria, frailty and advanced age led to shorter progression-free survival, indicating these factors influence how long patients remain stable.
  • Additionally, patients meeting these criteria experienced more severe hematologic adverse events, indicating a need for careful management and tailored assessments in vulnerable populations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Combinatory strategies with carfilzomib (CFZ), a second-generation proteasome inhibitor, plus dexamethasone (DEX) with or without lenalidomide (LEN) have shown promising efficacy for patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM) in pivotal clinical trials. However, their effects on patients who were resistance to bortezomib (BTZ) and/or LEN have not been fully evaluated in a daily practice setting.

Aims: To evaluate the real-world efficacy and safety of CFZ-based treatments; that is, CFZ with LEN plus DEX (KRD therapy) and CFZ with DEX (KD therapy), in Asian patients, we conducted a multicenter pilot prospective observational study in the Kyoto Clinical Hematology Study Group.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: To investigate the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) and recommended dose (RD) of stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) for centrally located stage IA non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Methods: Five dose levels, ranging from of 52 to 68 Gy in eight fractions, were determined; the treatment protocol began at 60 Gy (level 3). Each dose level included 10 patients.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: To evaluate dose-volume histogram (DVH) parameters as predictors of radiation pneumonitis (RP) in esophageal cancer patients treated with definitive concurrent chemoradiotherapy.

Patients And Methods: Thirty-seven esophageal cancer patients treated with radiotherapy with concomitant chemotherapy consisting of 5-fluorouracil and cisplatin were reviewed. Radiotherapy was delivered at 2 Gy per fraction to a total of 60 Gy.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the reliability of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) measured by quantitative gated SPECT (QGS). We compared the efficacy of LVEF assessment among Tc-99m tetrofosmin gated SPECT imaging, contrast left ventriculography (LVG), and first-pass radionuclide angiography (FP).

Patients: One-hundred and seven patients with ischemic heart disease underwent QGS and LVG simultaneously within 3 months, and 92 of the 107 patients also underwent FP at the same time.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Amiodarone is an amphiphilic, iodinated, benzofuran derivative that is known to be effective for refractory ventricular tachyarrhythmia. Amiodarone also is known to cause a variety of side effects, related to its accumulation in multiple organs. The deposition of amiodarone and its metabolite, desethylamiodarone (DA), in liver elevates liver function tests and increases liver attenuation on computed tomography (CT).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A PHP Error was encountered

Severity: Notice

Message: fwrite(): Write of 34 bytes failed with errno=28 No space left on device

Filename: drivers/Session_files_driver.php

Line Number: 272

Backtrace:

A PHP Error was encountered

Severity: Warning

Message: session_write_close(): Failed to write session data using user defined save handler. (session.save_path: /var/lib/php/sessions)

Filename: Unknown

Line Number: 0

Backtrace: