A retrospective analysis of bortezomib therapy for Japanese patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma: beta2-microglobulin associated with time to progression.

Bortezomib is approved for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma (MM), but only a few clinical studies for Japanese patients who were treated with bortezomib have been reported. We retrospectively analyzed 40 patients with relapsed or refractory MM who have received bortezomib at three collaborating centers in Miyagi prefecture in Japan. All the patients have been received bortezomib in combination with dexamethasone.

[Acute monoblastic leukemia with tetrasomy 8].

Tetrasomy 8 is a rare chromosomal abnormality in acute leukemia, and it has recently been considered as a poor prognostic factor. A 20-year-old woman was admitted because of purpura on the upper and lower limbs in February 2002. On admission, her leukocyte count was 6.

Predictive value of the original content of CD34(+) cells for enrichment of hematopoietic progenitor cells from bone marrow harvests by the apheresis procedure.

We retrospectively investigated the feasibility of the apheresis procedure for red blood cell (RBC) reduction with a closed-bag system. We also sought to determine the optimal processing volume for the maximal recovery of hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPC). Twelve bone marrow (BM) harvests were processed for major ABO-incompatible allogeneic transplantation and one BM harvest was processed for autologous transplantation.

[Non-myeloablative stem cell transplantation from an HLA identical sibling donor in a case of treatment-related acute myelogenous leukemia].

A 50-year-old man was admitted to our hospital because of thrombocytopenia during a follow up study of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma in second complete remission. He was diagnosed as having therapy-related acute myelgenous leukemia (t-AML) on the basis of the bone marrow findings and his chemotherapeutic agent history including alkylating agents. Complete remission was achieved by induction chemotherapy.

[Abscopal effect of small intestinal NK/T-cell lymphoma].

The abscopal effect is characterized by the spontaneous regression of unirradiated tumors resulting from the effect of irradiation on remote tissue. We report a case of NK/T-cell lymphoma of the small intestine that achieved complete remission as a result of an abscopal effect. A 74-year-old Japanese woman was referred to our hospital because of ileus and suspected perforation of the gastrointestinal tract.

CD56 positive intestinal T-cell lymphoma: treatment with high dose chemotherapy and autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation.

A 63-year-old man presented with a perforation of the small intestine. A diagnosis of intestinal T-cell lymphoma (ITCL) was made from CD (cluster differentiation) 3 positivity and a rearrangement of T-cell receptor genes. The tumor also expressed CD56, which suggests it belongs to a rare subtype derived from activated cytotoxic intraepithelial T lymphocytes.