Autologous stem cell transplant program in 2016-country report from Bangladesh.

We are describing eleven autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplants (ASCT) that were performed in 2016 at three different transplant centers in Bangladesh. Indications for those patients were multiple myeloma (MM) (n=4), diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) (n=2), Hodgkin's lymphoma (HD) (n=2), peripheral T cell lymphoma (PTCL) (n=1), acute myeloid leukemia (AML) (n=1), and acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) (n=1). All autologous stem cell products were cryo-preserved and transfused back to patients freshly thawed at 37℃.

Diagnosed hematological malignancies in Bangladesh - a retrospective analysis of over 5000 cases from 10 specialized hospitals.

Background: The global burden from cancer is rising, especially as low-income countries like Bangladesh observe rapid aging. So far, there are no comprehensive descriptions reporting diagnosed cancer group that include hematological malignancies in Bangladesh.

Methods: This was a multi-center hospital-based retrospective descriptive study of over 5000 confirmed hematological cancer cases in between January 2008 to December 2012.

Levofloxacin prophylaxis to prevent bacterial infection in chemotherapy-induced neutropenia in acute leukemia.

Infection in chemotherapy-induced neutropenia (neutrophils < 500/mm3) is the main cause of death during the treatment of acute leukemia. Antibiotic prophylaxis is a controversial issue to prevent or delay this infection. This study assessed the efficacy of prophylaxis with oral levofloxacin in chemotherapy-induced febrile neutropenic patients.

Rt-PCR method for diagnosis and follow-up of hematological malignancies: first approach in Bangladesh.

Nested reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (rt-PCR) was performed on 58 leukemia patients at BIRDEM Laboratory, as a pioneering work in Bangladesh. Thirty of themwere examined for the presence of BCR-ABL being clinically and morphologically diagnosed as chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and 28 for PML-RARalpha fusion transcripts being clinically and morphologically diagnosed as acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL/ AML M3). The cases were selected for targeted therapy with imatinib mesylate and all-Trans retinoic acid (ATRA) to treat CML and APL respectively.