Publications by authors named "Michael Churnetski"

Article Synopsis
  • Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) varies in prognosis, with blastoid and pleomorphic variants generally having poorer outcomes.
  • A study involving 1029 MCL patients over 15 years focused on the characteristics and survival rates of those with these variants, finding a median progression-free survival (PFS) of 38 months and overall survival (OS) of 68 months.
  • Key factors influencing PFS included receiving autologous hematopoietic transplantation (auto-HCT) and MCL International Prognostic Index (MIPI) scores; however, auto-HCT did not improve OS, indicating its benefits are more related to managing the disease's progression rather than overall survival.
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Purpose Of Review: A relative lack of molecular and clinical studies compared to other lymphoid cancers has historically made it difficult to determine optimal management approaches in post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD). We sought to better define the "state of the science" in PTLD by examining recent advances in risk assessment, genomic profiling, and trials of PTLD-directed therapy.

Recent Findings: Several major clinical trials highlight risk-stratified sequential therapy incorporating rituximab with or without chemotherapy as a rational treatment strategy in patients with CD20+ PTLD who do not respond to reduction of immunosuppression alone.

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Non-Hodgkin lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (NHL/CLL) patients elicit inadequate antibody responses after initial SARS-CoV-2 vaccination and remain at high risk of severe COVID-19 disease. We investigated IgG, IgA, and IgM responses after booster vaccination against recent SARS-CoV-2 variants including Omicron BA.5 in 67 patients.

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Ibrutinib is effective in the treatment of relapsed/refractory (R/R) marginal zone lymphoma (MZL) with an overall response rate (ORR) of 48%. However, factors associated with response (or lack thereof) to ibrutinib in R/R MZL in clinical practice are largely unknown. To answer this question, we performed a multicenter (25 US centers) cohort study and divided the study population into three groups: "ibrutinib responders"-patients who achieved complete or partial response (CR/PR) to ibrutinib; "stable disease (SD)"; and "primary progressors (PP)"-patients with progression of disease as their best response to ibrutinib.

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Purpose: Patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma including chronic lymphocytic leukemia (NHL/CLL) are at higher risk of severe SARS-CoV-2 infection. We investigated vaccine-induced antibody responses in patients with NHL/CLL against the original SARS-CoV-2 strain and variants of concern including B.1.

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Although an expanding array of effective treatments has resulted in recent improvement in survival of patients with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), outcomes remain heterogeneous, and identification of prognostic factors remains a priority. We assessed the prognostic impact of time to progression of disease (POD) after first-line therapy among 455 patients with relapsed MCL. Patients were categorized by duration of first remission as PRF/POD6, defined as progressive disease during induction or POD within 6 months of diagnosis (n = 65; 14%); POD6-24, defined as POD between 6 and 24 months after diagnosis (n = 153; 34%); and POD>24, defined as POD >24 months after diagnosis (n = 237; 53%).

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Article Synopsis
  • A multicenter study analyzed treatment outcomes of 244 patients aged ≥60 with classic Hodgkin lymphoma between 2010-2018, finding that those with loss of daily living activities had worse survival rates.
  • Most patients received conventional chemotherapy regimens, which significantly improved progression-free and overall survival compared to alternative therapies.
  • The research underscores the necessity of geriatric assessments in determining treatment fitness for older patients with Hodgkin lymphoma.
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Clinical outcomes and predictors of survival in patients with newly diagnosed mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) treated in the rituximab era (2000-2015) at 12 US academic centers were assessed to identify determinants of survival across age groups. Objectives were to characterize and compare practice patterns, outcomes and prognostic factors for survival in younger patients (age < 65) and older patients (age ≥ 65 years). Among 1162 patients included, 697 were younger and 465 were older.

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Data addressing prognostication in patients with HIV related Burkitt lymphoma (HIV-BL) currently treated remain scarce. We present an international analysis of 249 (United States: 140; United Kingdom: 109) patients with HIV-BL treated from 2008 to 2019 aiming to identify prognostic factors and outcomes. With a median follow up of 4.

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Purpose: Comorbid medical conditions define a subset of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) with poor outcomes. However, which comorbidities are most predictive remains understudied.

Experimental Design: We conducted a retrospective analysis from 10 academic centers to ascertain the relative importance of comorbidities assessed by the cumulative illness rating scale (CIRS).

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Background: Although many patients with follicular lymphoma (FL) undergo routine radiographic surveillance during their first remission, no consensus exists on the modality, duration, frequency, or need for routine imaging studies. The authors retrospectively examined the effect of surveillance imaging on relapse detection and overall survival (OS) in patients with FL.

Methods: Patients with newly diagnosed FL who had a response to induction therapy were identified from the Lymphoid Malignancies Enterprise Architecture Database (LEAD) at Emory University and from the Molecular Epidemiology Resource (MER) of the University of Iowa/Mayo Clinic.

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Introduction: While most patients with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) receive therapy shortly after diagnosis, a subset of patients with indolent-behaving disease can safely defer treatment. In this subgroup, we evaluated the importance of treatment intensity in patients with MCL who defer initial therapy.

Methods: Out of 1134 patients with MCL from 12 academic centers, we analyzed 219 patients who initiated therapy at least 90 days after diagnosis.

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Central nervous system (CNS) involvement in Burkitt lymphoma (BL) poses a major therapeutic challenge, and the relative ability of contemporary regimens to treat CNS involvement remains uncertain. We described prognostic significance of CNS involvement and incidence of CNS recurrence/progression after contemporary immunochemotherapy using real-world clinicopathologic data on adults with BL diagnosed between 2009 and 2018 across 30 US institutions. We examined associations between baseline CNS involvement, patient characteristics, complete response (CR) rates, and survival.

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We examined adults with untreated Burkitt lymphoma (BL) from 2009 to 2018 across 30 US cancer centers. Factors associated with progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were evaluated in univariate and multivariate Cox models. Among 641 BL patients, baseline features included the following: median age, 47 years; HIV+, 22%; Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status (PS) 2 to 4, 23%; >1 extranodal site, 43%; advanced stage, 78%; and central nervous system (CNS) involvement, 19%.

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There is a paucity of data regarding outcomes and response to standard therapy in patients with limited-stage (LS) agressive B-cell lymphoma (LS-ABCL) who harbor MYC rearrangement (MYC-R) with or without BCL2 and/or BCL6 rearrangements. We conducted a multicenter retrospective study of MYC-R LS-ABCL patients who received either rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CHOP), or more intensive immunochemotherapy (IIC) plus or minus consolidative involved-field radiation therapy (IFRT). One hundred four patients from 15 academic centers were included.

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Article Synopsis
  • This text is about a study on patients with aggressive B-cell lymphoma who didn't get better after their first treatment and received a second treatment called platinum-based immunochemotherapy.
  • The study looked at how well this second treatment worked, focusing on how long patients lived without their disease getting worse (progression-free survival) and how long they lived overall (overall survival).
  • The results showed that 44% of patients responded to the second treatment, but those who had problems early on after the first treatment did much worse compared to those who had problems later.
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Purpose: Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is a B-cell lymphoma characterized by cyclin D1 expression. Autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation (AHCT) consolidation after induction chemotherapy is often used for eligible patients; however, the benefit remains uncertain in the rituximab era. Herein we retrospectively assessed the impact of AHCT consolidation on survival in a large cohort of transplantation-eligible patients age 65 years or younger.

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Background: Most patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) present with multiple comorbidities. Although comorbidities negatively affect outcomes for patients treated with chemoimmunotherapy, their impact on patients who receive targeted therapies is unknown.

Methods: This multicenter, retrospective analysis evaluated the significance of comorbidities, as assessed by the Cumulative Illness Rating Scale (CIRS), among patients with CLL treated with ibrutinib.

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