Accompanying Hemoglobin Polymerization in Red Blood Cells in Patients with Sickle Cell Disease Using Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging.

In recent studies, it has been shown that fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM) may reveal intracellular structural details in unstained cytological preparations that are not revealed by standard staining procedures. The aim of our investigation was to examine whether FLIM images could reveal areas suggestive of polymerization in red blood cells (RBCs) of sickle cell disease (SCD) patients. We examined label-free blood films using auto-fluorescence FLIM images of 45 SCD patients and compared the results with those of 27 control persons without hematological disease.

Circulating tumor DNA in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma: analysis of response assessment, correlation with PET/CT and clone evolution.

Introduction: Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) can be obtained from cell-free DNA (cfDNA) andis a new technique for genotyping, response assessment and prognosis in lymphoma.

Methods: Eighteen patients with samples at diagnosis (ctDNA1), after treatment (ctDNA2) and extracted from diagnostic tissue (FFPE) were evaluated.

Results: In all patients, at least one mutation in cfDNA was detected at diagnosis.

Peripheral lymphocyte subsets as predicting factors for molecular recurrence after imatinib discontinuation in a phase 2 imatinib discontinuation trial in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia.

Introduction: Treatment-free remission (TFR) is successful in half of the patients with chronic myeloid leukemia who discontinue Imatinib (IM) after sustained molecular response.

Methods: In a prospective trial, we used pioglitazone for 3 months before stopping IM in 30 patients. Percentages of peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets were assessed before and after treatment.

Head-to-head comparison of [Ga]Ga-PSMA-11 and [F]FDG PET/CT in multiple myeloma.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to compare [F]FDG and [Ga]Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT image findings in patients with multiple myeloma (MM).

Methods: Twenty consecutive patients with symptomatic biopsy-proven MM were submitted to whole body [F]FDG and [Ga]Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT with a time interval of 1-8 days between procedures. All lesions were counted and had their maximum SUV (SUVmax) measured.

The Fractal Dimension Suggests Two Chromatin Configurations in Small Cell Neuroendocrine Lung Cancer and Is an Independent Unfavorable Prognostic Factor for Overall Survival.

Experimental studies have shown that in small cell neuroendocrine lung carcinomas (SCLC) global opening of the chromatin structure is associated with a higher transcription activity and increase of tumor aggressiveness and metastasis. The study of the fractal characteristics (FD) of nuclear chromatin has been widely used to describe the cell nuclear texture and its changes correspond to changes in nuclear metabolic and transcription activity. Hence, we investigated whether the nuclear fractal dimension could be a prognostic factor in SCLC.

[Not Available].

5-Azacitidine has been used before stem cell transplantation in juvenile myelomonocytic leukaemia (JMML) patients. Recently, we have described immunophenotypic features in JMML at diagnosis. Here, our aim was to examine the changes in the immunophenotypic features during azacitidine treatment, correlating it with clinical response.

Metabolic Volume Measurements in Multiple Myeloma.

Multiple myeloma (MM) accounts for 10-15% of all hematologic malignancies, as well as 20% of deaths related to hematologic malignant tumors, predominantly affecting bone and bone marrow. Positron emission tomography/computed tomography with 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG-PET/CT) is an important method to assess the tumor burden of these patients. It is often challenging to classify the extent of disease involvement in the PET scans for many of these patients because both focal and diffuse bone lesions may coexist, with varying degrees of FDG uptake.

Using Antigen Expression of Leukemic Cells for a Fast Screening of Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia by Flow Cytometry.

(1) Background: Acute promyelocytic leukemia is curable, but bleeding complications still provoke a high early mortality. Therefore, a fast diagnosis is needed for timely starting treatment. We developed a diagnostic algorithm using flow cytometric features for discrimination between acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) and other types of acute myeloid leukemias (AML).

Intensity of bone involvement: a quantitative 18F-FDG PET/CT evaluation for monitoring outcome of multiple myeloma.

Purpose: The parameter intensity of bone involvement (IBI) was recently proposed to quantitatively assess patients with multiple myeloma using 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose-PET combined with computed tomography (18F-FDG PET/CT) images. Here, we aimed to calculate IBI variation (ΔIBI) between two consecutive PET/CT of the same patient and verified its relationship with a subjective visual analysis of the images and with clinical outcome.

Methods: Consecutive whole-body 18F-FDG PET/CT performed to assess the outcomes of 29 patients diagnosed with multiple myeloma were retrospectively evaluated.

Updating recommendations of the Brazilian Group of Flow Cytometry (GBCFLUX) for diagnosis of acute leukemias using four-color flow cytometry panels.

Introduction: Flow cytometry has become an increasingly important tool in the clinical laboratory for the diagnosis and monitoring of many hematopoietic neoplasms. This method is ideal for immunophenotypic identification of cellular subpopulations in complex samples, such as bone marrow and peripheral blood. In general, 4-color panels appear to be adequate, depending on the assay.

Fluorescence lifetime imaging is able to recognize different hematopoietic precursors in unstained routine bone marrow films.

Fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM) has been used in living cells to measure metabolic activity and demonstrate cell differentiation. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the FLIM technique could be able to demonstrate cell maturation during myelopoiesis and erythropoiesis in unlabeled routine bone marrow (BM) preparations. Air-dried, unstained smears of BM aspiration samples of 32 patients without BM disease and a normal morphology on May-Grünwald-Giemsa (MGG) stained smears entered the study.

A simple score derived from bone marrow immunophenotyping is important for prognostic evaluation in myelodysplastic syndromes.

Immunophenotyping of bone marrow (BM) precursors has been used as an ancillary diagnostic tool in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), but there is no general agreement about which variables are the most relevant for prognosis. We developed a parsimonious prognostic model based on BM cell populations well-defined by phenotype. We analyzed 95 consecutive patients with primary MDS diagnosed at our Institution between 2005 and 2012 where BM immunophenotyping had been performed at diagnosis.

Immunophenotypic characteristics of juvenile myelomonocytic leukaemia and their relation with the molecular subgroups of the disease.

The diagnosis of juvenile myelomonocytic leukaemia (JMML) is based on clinical, laboratory and molecular features but immunophenotyping [multiparametric flow cytometry (MFC)] has not been used routinely. In the present study, we describe the flow cytometric features at diagnosis with special attention to the distribution of monocytic subsets and the relation between MFC and molecular subgroups. MFC was performed with an eight-colour platform based on Euroflow.

99mTc-sestamibi SPECT/CT and 18F-FDG-PET/CT have similar performance but different imaging patterns in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma.

Purpose: F-fluorodeoxiglucose (F-FDG)-PET/CT has been widely used to evaluate multiple myeloma. Tc-sestamibi (MIBI) scintigraphy has also been proposed for assessing multiple myeloma, but its use with state-of-the-art single-photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography (SPECT/CT) technology has not been fully evaluated.This study aimed to compare these two imaging modalities in multiple myeloma staging.

Computed tomography-based skeletal segmentation for quantitative PET metrics of bone involvement in multiple myeloma.

Purpose: Quantifications in nuclear medicine are occasionally limited by the lack of standardization for defining volumes of interest (VOIs) on functional images. In the present article, we propose the use of computed tomography (CT)-based skeletal segmentation to determine anatomically the VOI in order to calculate quantitative parameters of fluorine 18 fluorodeoxyglucose (F-FDG) PET/CT images from patients with multiple myeloma.

Methods: We evaluated 101 whole-body F-FDG PET/CTs of 58 patients with multiple myeloma.

Proposal for a Quantitative F-FDG PET/CT Metabolic Parameter to Assess the Intensity of Bone Involvement in Multiple Myeloma.

Many efforts have been made to standardize the interpretation of F-FDG PET/CT in multiple myeloma (MM) with qualitative visual analysis or with quantitative metabolic parameters using various methods for lesion segmentation of PET images. The aim of this study was to propose a quantitative method for bone and bone marrow evaluation of F-FDG PET/CT considering the extent and intensity of bone F-FDG uptake: Intensity of Bone Involvement (IBI). Whole body F-FDG PET/CT of 59 consecutive MM patients were evaluated.

Evaluation of anemia after long-term treatment with imatinib in chronic myeloid leukemia patients in chronic phase.

Introduction: The incidence of grade 3-4 anemia was reported to be 3% with imatinib therapy for newly diagnosed chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) in the chronic phase (CP). However, there are few data regarding the causes and the development of anemia after long-term treatment. This study aimed to evaluate the incidence of anemia after at least two years of imatinib treatment of CML patients in the CP and to identify other contributing causes of anemia in this population.

Management of chronic myeloid leukemia during pregnancy: a retrospective analysis at a single center.

We analyzed the management and outcomes of pregnancies of patients with chronic myeloid leukemia at a single center over fifteen years. Among the 203 CML female patients, there were ten pregnancies in seven women, all of them not planned. In three cases, the chronic myeloid leukemia diagnosis was made during pregnancy.

Flow cytometry "Ogata score" for the diagnosis of myelodysplastic syndromes in a real-life setting. A Latin American experience.

Introduction: Flow cytometry (FC) is a helpful tool for the diagnosis of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). Different FC score systems have been developed. The "Ogata score" is a simple diagnostic score that has been validated having a sensitivity of 69% and a specificity of 92% in low-risk MDS.