Publications by authors named "Koji Kawamura"
Association Between Coagulation Fibrinolysis Markers and Severity in Patients with COVID-19.
Clin Appl Thromb Hemost
November 2024
Introduction: Thrombosis is a major complication of COVID-19. D-dimer (DD) is an important coagulation fibrinolysis marker in COVID-19 and has been extensively studied. However, very little is known about the role of other fibrinolysis markers, plasmin-plasmin inhibitor complex (PIC), and fibrin monomer complex (FMC) in COVID-19.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Type I conventional dendritic cells (cDC1s) play a key role in priming anti-tumor cytotoxic T cells and inducing immune tolerance for self-antigens and tumor antigens. However, it remains unclear whether cDC1 has a protective or pathogenic role in multiple myeloma. We investigated a role of cDC1 in myeloma progression.
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- HLA-haploidentical hematopoietic cell transplantation with post-transplant cyclophosphamide (PTCy-haplo) is becoming a safer and more available option compared to matched unrelated donor (MUD) transplants for acute myeloid leukemia (AML).
- * A nationwide study found that while PTCy-haplo has a slower hematopoietic recovery and higher infection-related deaths, it also shows lower rates of severe graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) compared to ATG-free MUD transplants.
- * Overall survival rates were similar across all transplant types, suggesting that PTCy-haplo could be a viable option for AML patients lacking an HLA-matched donor.
Article Synopsis
- Autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation (AHCT) is an effective treatment for multiple myeloma, with real-world data collected from 61,725 patients revealing median overall survival of 90.2 months and median progression-free survival of 36.5 months.* -
- Cumulative relapse incidence and non-relapse mortality rates at 24 months were found to be 33% and 2.5% respectively, with better outcomes linked to factors like younger age, certain disease subtypes, and high performance status.* -
- Global variations were observed in patient outcomes based on registry data, influenced by differences in patient characteristics, use of maintenance treatments, and macroeconomic factors, highlighting the safety and effectiveness of AH
Article Synopsis
- Difamilast is a PDE4 inhibitor that shows potential in treating atopic dermatitis (AD) by affecting the activity of IL-33, a key player in the disease's development.
- In cultured normal human epidermal keratinocytes (NHEKs), difamilast increased levels of soluble ST2 (sST2), which acts as a decoy receptor to block IL-33 signaling, while not altering the expression of the transmembrane form ST2L.
- The study further revealed that difamilast's effects on sST2 production are mediated through the activation of the AHR-NRF2 pathway, helping to reduce the inflammatory response associated with AD.
Semaphorin 3A (SEMA3A), a nerve-repellent factor produced by keratinocytes, has an inhibitory effect on nerve extension to the epidermis. Epidermal innervation is involved in pruritus in inflammatory skin diseases such as atopic dermatitis (AD) and dry skin. We previously reported that tapinarof, a stilbene molecule, upregulates SEMA3A in human keratinocytes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFClinical impact of a change in antibiotics or the addition of glycopeptide antibiotics for persistent febrile neutropenia after autologous stem cell transplantation.
J Infect Chemother
June 2024
Article Synopsis
- - A study was conducted to assess whether changing antibiotics or adding glycopeptide antibiotics helps patients with persistent febrile neutropenia (FN) after autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation (auto-HCT) recover faster.
- - The analysis involved 208 patients, and it found no significant improvement in recovery time for those who switched antibiotics; in fact, adding glycopeptides was linked to a longer recovery time.
- - The conclusion suggested that routine changes in antibiotics might not be beneficial for treating persistent FN after auto-HCT, indicating a need to reconsider common antibiotic management practices in such cases.
Article Synopsis
- The study analyzed the effects of the anti-CD38 antibody daratumumab (Dara) before autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) in multiple myeloma (MM) patients, involving 2,626 patients from 2017 to 2020.
- Results showed that patients not receiving Dara (Dara- group) had better 1-year progression-free survival (87.4%) and overall survival rates (96.7%) compared to those receiving Dara (Dara+ group, with 77.3% and 90.0%, respectively).
- Factors like younger age, low disease stage, and effective treatment response before ASCT were linked to better survival outcomes, while patients achieving good responses with Dara
fusion is found in < 1% of de novo acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cases and confers a poor prognosis. This Japanese nationwide survey analyzed patients with AML ( = 22) and mixed phenotype acute leukemia (MPAL) ( = 10) with t(9;22) or who underwent allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT) between 2002 and 2018. The 3-year overall survival (OS) rates were 81.
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- This study looked at how the experience of hospitals affects survival rates for patients with acute myeloid leukemia after they receive a special type of transplant called allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation.
- Researchers found that patients treated at hospitals with a lot of transplant experience had the best outcomes, while those at hospitals with less experience had worse outcomes, largely due to higher rates of cancer returning.
- Although patients at more experienced hospitals faced more complications from the transplant, their chances of dying from other causes didn't go up, suggesting that overall care for transplants in Japan is improving.
Article Synopsis
- IL-33 and IL-37 are new cytokines linked to inflammation, playing opposing roles by promoting and suppressing inflammatory responses, respectively.
- These cytokines are implicated in inflammatory skin diseases like atopic dermatitis and psoriasis, with recent studies uncovering their complex regulatory mechanisms.
- The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) influences the expression of IL-33 and IL-37, which could open up potential new treatments by restoring balance in the IL-33-IL-37 axis for these skin conditions.
Autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) is the standard of care for myeloma patients who achieve partial response (PR) or better after induction therapy. However, its clinical significance in patients with suboptimal response (SR) before ASCT, including stable disease (SD) and progressive disease (PD), has not been established. Additionally, functional high-risk, including SR and early PD within 12 months, was a poor prognostic factor up to now.
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- A 58-year-old female with a history of bone marrow transplantation for myelodysplastic syndrome developed invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) 14 years post-transplant.
- Despite being vaccinated against pneumococcus twice in the past, she presented with pneumonia and was hospitalized with a confirmed infection, receiving antibiotics.
- Unfortunately, she passed away three days later, highlighting the need for ongoing vigilance and preventive strategies against pneumococcal infections long after stem cell transplantation.
Although cytomegalovirus (CMV) and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) are considered latent viruses, their reactivation occurs in immunosuppressed conditions. We previously reported that CMV and EBV are reactivated in patients receiving immunosuppressive therapy and/or chemotherapy. This retrospective, single-center study aimed to determine the frequency of viral reactivation and clinical characteristics of patients with B cell lymphoma (B-ML) receiving chemotherapy.
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- The study looked at how quickly platelets recover after a type of cancer treatment called autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation (AHCT) and how it affects patients' health.
- They found that patients who had quicker platelet recovery after 28 days had better chances of living longer and experiencing fewer health problems.
- The researchers also figured out how many special cells (CD34 cells) each group of patients needed to recover their platelets quickly, showing that different patient conditions affected this recovery.
Article Synopsis
- Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a long-lasting inflammatory skin condition that affects people's quality of life due to issues like skin barrier dysfunction and intense itching.
- New understanding of the disease has opened up several targets for therapy, particularly focusing on the immune system and cytokines involved in AD.
- Current and future treatments under investigation include biologic agents, JAK inhibitors, and small-molecule compounds, along with microbiome approaches, all contributing to advancements in precision medicine for AD.
Article Synopsis
- The study aimed to develop an automatic method for evaluating bone marrow (BM) cellularity using image analysis, moving away from the reliance on visual estimates.
- Researchers analyzed hematoxylin and eosin (HE)-stained bone marrow specimens from patients, comparing three image analysis methods against traditional visual assessments from pathology reports.
- Method C proved to be the most effective, achieving a high correlation with visual estimates and accurately detecting both non-fatty and cell nuclear areas in the bone marrow samples.
In the last two decades, proteasome inhibitors (PIs), immunomodulatory drugs (IMiDs), and monoclonal antibodies have greatly improved the overall survival of patients with multiple myeloma. However, multiple myeloma remains incurable, and high-risk patients have poor long-term survival. Although allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HCT) is not considered standard therapy because of relatively high transplant-related mortality and relapse rates, the graft-versus-myeloma (GVM) effect makes it a potentially curative therapy.
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- Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, not otherwise specified (DLBCL-NOS) is the most common type of lymphoma, and this study explores the clinical factors related to MYC protein expression in patients.
- A total of 110 DLBCL-NOS patients treated with R-CHOP chemotherapy were analyzed, revealing that a higher MYC positivity rate (above 55%) correlated with lower overall survival rates (57.7% vs 84.7%) and progression-free survival rates.
- The study proposes a new scoring system categorizing patients based on age, MYC positivity, and interleukin-2 receptor levels, which effectively stratifies risk and predicts survival outcomes, with survival rates of 100%, 83
Tandem autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) has been reconsidered for high-risk patients with myeloma, and the eligibility criteria for up-front ASCT have been updated to include more elderly patients. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of tandem ASCT in elderly patients with myeloma compared to tandem ASCT in young patients and single ASCT in elderly patients. A retrospective study using the Transplant Registry Unified Management Program database of the Japanese Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy, which included 64 elderly and 613 young patients who received tandem ASCT, and 891 elderly patients who received single ASCT, was conducted.
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- - Chronic active Epstein-Barr virus infection (CAEBV) can lead to pulmonary artery hypertension (PAH) as a serious cardiovascular complication, but the exact mechanisms and treatment effects are not fully understood.
- - A study involving four adult CAEBV patients with PAH showed that treatment with a vasodilator improved heart pressure, and further enhancements were noted when CAEBV was treated, either through chemotherapy or allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation.
- - Autopsy results revealed EBV-infected cells contributing to vasculitis and PAH, indicating that the condition can improve with appropriate PAH medication and CAEBV treatment.
Article Synopsis
- Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is a potential cure for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients resistant to chemotherapy, with cord blood transplantation (CBT) being a quick alternative.
- A study using data from a national registry identified 2,438 adult patients who received either CBT or haploidentical HSCT (haplo-HSCT) for non-remission AML, comparing outcomes between the two groups.
- Results indicated no significant difference in overall survival or relapse rates between CBT and haplo-HSCT; however, CBT showed better survival outcomes in patients undergoing myeloablative conditioning.