Pretransplant comorbidities maintain their impact on allogeneic stem cell transplantation outcome 5 years posttransplant: a retrospective study in a single german institution.

The introduction of reduced-intensity conditioning regimens has allowed elderly patients with preexisting comorbidities access to the potentially curative allogeneic stem cell transplantation. Patient's comorbidities at the time of treatment consideration play a significant role in transplant outcome in terms of both overall survival (OS) and nonrelapse mortality (NRM). The hematopoietic stem cell transplantation comorbidity index (HCT-CI) quantifies these patient specific risks and has established itself as a major tool in the pretransplant assessment of patients.

Clostridium difficile infection in patients with acute myelogenous leukemia and in patients undergoing allogeneic stem cell transplantation: epidemiology and risk factor analysis.

Patients receiving treatment for acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) and recipients of allogeneic stem cell transplantation (aSCT) are at high risk of contracting Clostridium difficile infection (CDI), the most frequently observed nosocomial diarrhea and enterocolitis. Data were retrieved from the prospective Cologne Cohort of Neutropenic Patients. Patients hospitalized for aSCT as well as patients receiving treatment for AML were included in the analysis.

Vaccination with dendritic cell-tumor fusion cells in multiple myeloma patients: a promising strategy?

Evaluation of: Rosenblatt J, Avivi I, Vasir B et al. Vaccination with dendritic cell/tumor fusions following autologous stem cell transplant induces immunologic and clinical responses in multiple myeloma patients. Clin.

Allogeneic stem cell transplantation versus conventional therapy for advanced primary cutaneous T-cell lymphoma.

Background: Primary cutaneous T-cell lymphomas (CTCL) belong to the group of non-Hodgkin lymphomas and usually run an indolent course. However, some patients progress to advanced tumour or leukaemic stages. To date, there is no cure for those cases.

18-Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography for assessment of response to brentuximab vedotin treatment in relapsed and refractory Hodgkin lymphoma.

Brentuximab vedotin has emerged as a possible treatment option in patients suffering from relapsed and refractory Hodgkin lymphoma (HL). We investigated the role of 18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG-PET/CT) for monitoring treatment response to brentuximab vedotin in patients with relapsed and refractory HL. Twelve consecutive, heavily pretreated patients with relapsed and refractory HL treated with brentuximab vedotin were available for analysis.

CD40-activated B cells as antigen-presenting cells: the final sprint toward clinical application.

Efficient antigen presentation is a prerequisite for the development of a T-cell-mediated immune response in vitro and in vivo. CD40-activated B cells (CD40B cells) are a promising alternative to dendritic cells as professional APCs for immunotherapy. CD40 activation dramatically improves antigen presentation by normal and malignant B cells, efficiently inducing naive and memory CD4(+) and CD8(+) T-cell responses.

Anti-thymocyte globulins for post-transplant graft-versus-host disease prophylaxis-A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Despite advances made in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (alloSCT), graft versus host disease (GvHD) remains a major problem. The main strategy to combat GvHD is prophylaxis and ATG plays a major role in this arena. Conflicting reports on the effectiveness of ATG on GvHD prevention prompted us to address this question by means of a systematic review and meta-analysis.

The ratio between dendritic cells and T cells determines whether prostaglandin E2 has a stimulatory or inhibitory effect.

Prostaglandin E2 has been shown to enhance the maturation, migration, and antigen-presenting capacity of DCs. It is therefore included in many maturation cocktails for the generation of monocyte-derived DCs. Paradoxically, PGE2 is also an important tumor-derived immunosuppressive factor and has inhibitory effects on DC differentiation and function.

Immature DC isolated after co-culture with PUVA-treated peripheral blood mononuclear cells downregulate graft-versus-host reactions in the human skin explant model.

Graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) remains the major barrier to successful allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Extracorporeal photopheresis (ECP) is a potent immunomodulatory treatment option for GvHD. In contrast to conventional immunosuppressants, ECP is considered not to increase relapse and infection rates resulting from generalised immunosuppression.

The Use of Statins in Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation and Solid Organ Transplantation.

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and solid organ transplantation have become established treatments offered to patients for whom there are otherwise no curative treatment options. Unfortunately, these therapeutic modalities are associated with severe complications that limit its applicability. Alloimmunity is an important cause of morbidity and mortality after both organ transplantation and allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and represents a major barrier to the more wide-spread use of these treatment modalities.

The properties of human CD40-activated B cells as antigen-presenting cells are not affected by PGE2.

Tumor vaccination represents a promising immuno-therapeutic strategy in cancer. However, the inherent ability of many tumors to evade immune responses by suppression of immune cell function represents a major barrier. Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) has been shown to be a critical tumor-derived immunosuppressive factor.

Results of a Phase II clinical trial with Id-protein-loaded dendritic cell vaccine in multiple myeloma: encouraging or discouraging?

Recently gained insight into the role of dendritic cells (DCs) as APCs has attracted the attention of many researchers who hope to use them as a tool in immunotherapy for the induction of tumor-specific immunity in cancer settings. Despite high expectations, in multiple myeloma patients the results of DC-based vaccines in terms of clinical response have been disappointing. The findings of Zahradova et al.

Polyclonal anti-thymocyte globulins for the prophylaxis of graft-versus-host disease after allogeneic stem cell or bone marrow transplantation in adults.

Background: Allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is an established treatment for many malignant and non-malignant haematological disorders. Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), a condition frequently occurring after HSCT, is the result of host tissues being attacked by donor immune cells. One strategy for the prevention of GVHD is the administration of anti-thymocyte globulins (ATG), a set of polyclonal antibodies directed against a variety of immune cell epitopes, leading to immunosuppression and immunomodulation.

Mast cells play a protumorigenic role in primary cutaneous lymphoma.

Primary cutaneous lymphomas (PCLs) are clonal T- or B-cell neoplasms, which originate in the skin. In recent years, mast cells were described as regulators of the tumor microenvironment in different human malignancies. Here, we investigated the role of mast cells in the tumor microenvironment of PCL.

Brentuximab vedotin for relapsed or refractory CD30+ hematologic malignancies: the German Hodgkin Study Group experience.

The CD30-targeting Ab-drug conjugate brentuximab vedotin (SGN-35) was recently approved for the treatment of relapsed Hodgkin lymphoma and anaplastic large-cell lymphoma by the Food and Drug Administration. In the present study, we report the experience of the German Hodgkin Study Group with brentuximab vedotin as single agent in 45 patients with refractory or relapsed CD30(+) Hodgkin lymphoma who were treated either in a named patient program (n = 34) or in the context of a safety study associated with the registration program of this drug. In these very heavily pretreated patients, an objective response rate of 60%, including 22% complete remissions, could be documented.

The immunosuppressive factors IL-10, TGF-β, and VEGF do not affect the antigen-presenting function of CD40-activated B cells.

Background: Progress in recent years strengthened the concept of cellular tumor vaccinations. However, a crucial barrier to successful cancer immunotherapy is tumor-mediated immunosuppression. Tumor-derived soluble factors such as IL-10, TGF-β, and VEGF suppress effector cells either directly or indirectly by disruption of dendritic cell (DC) differentiation, migration and antigen presentation.

Allogeneic stem cell transplantation versus conventional therapy for advanced primary cutaneous T-cell lymphoma.

Background: Primary cutaneous T-cell lymphomas (CTCL) belong to the group of non-Hodgkin lymphomas and usually run an indolent course. However, some patients progress to advanced tumour or leukaemic stages. Up to now, no curative treatment has been established for those cases.

Analysis of Tie2-expressing monocytes (TEM) in patients with colorectal cancer.

Tie2-expressing monocytes (TEM) promote tumor angiogenesis and growth in experimental cancer models. The role of TEM in cancer patients is unknown. We studied TEM in healthy volunteers and colorectal cancer (CRC) patients.