Radioimmunotherapy with I-rituximab for patients with relapsed or refractory follicular or mantle cell lymphoma.

Aim: This study aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of I-rituximab in patients with relapsed or refractory follicular or mantle cell lymphoma.

Methods: Twenty-four patients with relapsed or refractory follicular or mantle cell lymphoma were administered unlabeled rituximab (70 mg) immediately before receiving a therapeutic dose of I-rituximab. Contrast-enhanced 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography was used a month later to assess tumor response.

Clinical Efficacies of FLT3 Inhibitors in Patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia.

FLT3 mutations are the most common genomic alteration detected in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with a worse clinical prognosis. The highly frequent FLT3 mutations, together with the side effects associated with clinical prognosis, make FLT3 promising treatment targets and have provoked the advancement of FLT3 inhibitors. Recently, numerous FLT3 inhibitors were actively developed, and thus the outcomes of this aggressive subtype of AML were significantly improved.

Targeted Therapeutic Approach Based on Understanding of Aberrant Molecular Pathways Leading to Leukemic Proliferation in Patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia.

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a heterogenous hematopoietic neoplasm with various genetic abnormalities in myeloid stem cells leading to differentiation arrest and accumulation of leukemic cells in bone marrow (BM). The multiple genetic alterations identified in leukemic cells at diagnosis are the mainstay of World Health Organization classification for AML and have important prognostic implications. Recently, understanding of heterogeneous and complicated molecular abnormalities of the disease could lead to the development of novel targeted therapeutic agents.

Clinical impact of lymphatic spread in patients with limited-stage upper aerodigestive tract NK/T cell lymphoma.

Background: We investigated whether distance, that is, the degree of distance between the upper aerodigestive tract (UAT) mass and the farthest pathologic lymph node, was significantly associated with survival in patients with limited-stage UAT natural killer/T cell lymphoma (NKTCL).

Methods: A total of 157 patients who received chemotherapy (CTx) with/without radiotherapy (RTx) were enrolled.

Results: In the survival analysis, an elevated lactate dehydrogenase level [progression-free survival (PFS): hazard ratio (HR), 2.

Clinical Impact of Extranodal Metabolic Tumor Volume in 240 Diffuse Large B cell Lymphoma Patients with Extranodal Involvement.

The present study is to investigate whether extranodal (EN) metabolic tumor volume (MTV) would have a specific clinical meaning for survival in EN diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) patients. Two hundred forty DLBCL patients with EN involvement received 18F-fluorodeoxygenase (FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) were enrolled. Survival analysis revealed that low EN MTV (PFS [progression-free survival], HR = 0.

Clinical impacts of inflammatory markers and clinical factors in patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

Background: Systemic inflammatory response can be associated with the prognosis of diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL). We investigated the systemic factors significantly related to clinical outcome in relapsed/refractory DLBCL.

Methods: In 242 patients with DLBCL, several factors, including inflammatory markers were analyzed.

Resistance Mechanisms to CAR T-Cell Therapy and Overcoming Strategy in B-Cell Hematologic Malignancies.

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy has shown promising clinical impact against hematologic malignancies. CD19 is a marker on the surface of normal B cells as well as most B-cell malignancies, and thus has a role as an effective target for CAR T-cell therapy. In numerous clinical data, successes with cell therapy have provided anticancer therapy as a potential therapeutic option for patients who are resistant to standard chemotherapies.

Understanding Immune Evasion and Therapeutic Targeting Associated with PD-1/PD-L1 Pathway in Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma.

In tumor microenvironment, the programmed death 1 (PD-1) immune checkpoint has a crucial role of mechanism of T cell exhaustion leading to tumor evasion. Ligands of PD-1, programmed death ligand 1/2 (PD-L1/L2) are over-expressed in tumor cells and participate in prolonged tumor progression and survivals. Recently, clinical trials for patients who failed to obtain an optimal response prior to standardized chemotherapy in several solid cancers have been focused on targeting therapy against PD-1 to reduce disease progression rates and prolonged survivals.

The Derived Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio Is an Independent Prognostic Factor in Transplantation Ineligible Patients with Multiple Myeloma.

Background: The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is an independent prognostic marker in solid and hematological cancers. While the derived NLR (dNLR) was shown to be non-inferior to the NLR in large cohorts of patients with different cancer types, it has not been validated as a prognostic marker for multiple myeloma (MM) to date.

Methods: Between May 22, 2011 and May 29, 2014, 176 patients with MM from 38 centers who were ineligible for autologous stem cell transplantation were analyzed.

Successful coronary stenting in a patient with factor V deficiency in the absence of fresh frozen plasma transfusion: Case report.

Rationale: Drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation in a patient with factor V deficiency (F5D) is very complex. No antithrombotic therapy study has been reported for F5D patients who undergo a coronary stenting procedure.

Patient Concerns: A 73-year-old woman presented with chest discomfort and exertional dyspnea.

Tumor necrosis and complete resection has significant impacts on survival in patients with limited-stage upper aerodigestive tract NK/T cell lymphoma.

Tumor necrosis (TN) is associated with worse prognosis in several solid cancers. Whether TN predicts poor outcome in natural killer cell / T cell lymphoma (NKTCL) is unclear. We investigated the clinical impact of TN on survival and other novel prognostic parameters in upper aero-digestive tract (UAT) NKTCL of 100 patients with limited stage.

Would Lipophilic Statin Therapy as a Prognostic Factor Improve Survival in Patients With Uterine Cervical Cancer?

Objectives: In vitro studies showed that lipophilic statins inhibit cell growth, adhesion, and invasion and induce apoptosis in cancer cell lines. In uterine cervical cancer, several important factors including age, stage, anemia, lymphovascular invasion, lymph node metastases, and parametrial spread were known to significantly predict survival. We investigated whether statin therapy as a prognostic factor would significantly predict survival in cervical cancer.

A prospective, open-label, multicenter, observational study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of bortezomib-melphalan-prednisone as initial treatment for autologous stem cell transplantation-ineligible patients with multiple myeloma.

Bortezomib-melphalan-prednisone (VMP) showed superior efficacy versus MP as first-line treatment for transplantation-ineligible multiple myeloma (MM). This study investigated the efficacy of VMP for Korean patients with MM.Overall, 177 MM patients received 9 cycles of VMP in this prospective, multicenter, observational study.

Evaluation of prognostic factors in patients with relapsed AML: Clonal evolution versus residual disease.

Background: It is widely known that the prognosis of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) depends on chromosomal abnormalities. The majority of AML patients relapse and experience a dismal disease course despite initial remission.

Methods: We reviewed the medical records and laboratory findings of 55 AML patients who had relapsed between 2004 and 2013 and who had been treated at the Division of Hematology of the Pusan National University Hospital.

Tumor necrosis could reflect advanced disease status in patients with diffuse large B cell lymphoma treated with R-CHOP therapy.

Tumor necrosis (TN) can lower responsiveness to chemotherapy and confer basic resistance to anti-cancer therapy. We investigated the association of TN with poor clinical features and outcome in diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL). We examined the presence or absence of TN in 476 DLBCL patients of who received rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CHOP) therapy.

Clinical impact of induction treatment modalities and optimal timing of radiotherapy for the treatment of limited-stage NK/T cell lymphoma.

This study retrospectively investigated the optimal timing of radiotherapy (RT) in patients with limited-stage extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma (ENTKL). Among 158 patients with newly diagnosed stage I/II ENKTL, 61 patients were treated with sequential chemotherapy followed by radiotherapy (SCRT), 55 with concurrent chemoradiotherapy followed by non-anthracycline-based chemotherapy (CCRT/CT), and 42 with chemotherapy (CT) only. The 5-year overall survival (OS) rate did not differ between SCRT (77.

Usefulness of spleen volume measured by computed tomography for predicting clinical outcome in primary myelofibrosis.

Although splenomegaly is major characteristic of primary myelofibrosis (PMF), splenomegaly has been devalued due to a less reliable method based on physical examination (PEx). We evaluated whether spleen volume (SV) on CT would accurately predict clinical outcomes in PMF. A total of 188 patients were enrolled.

High total metabolic tumor volume in PET/CT predicts worse prognosis in diffuse large B cell lymphoma patients with bone marrow involvement in rituximab era.

Bone marrow involvement (BMI) in diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) was naively regarded as an adverse clinical factor. However, it has been unknown which factor would separate clinical outcomes in DLBCL patients with BMI. Recently, metabolic tumor volume (MTV) on positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) was suggested to predict prognosis in several lymphoma types.

Is there role of additional chemotherapy after definitive local treatment for stage I/II marginal zone lymphoma?: Consortium for Improving Survival of Lymphoma (CISL) study.

Even though local stage (Ann Arbor stage I/II) marginal zone lymphoma (MZL) is well controlled with local treatment-based therapy, no data exist on the role of additional chemotherapy after local treatment for stage I/II MZL. Patients with biopsy-confirmed Ann Arbor stage I/II MZL (n = 210) were included for analysis in this study. Of these, 180 patients (85.

Maximum standardized uptake value on positron emission tomography/computed tomography predicts clinical outcome in patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

Background: Few clinical studies have clarified the prognostic factors that affect clinical outcomes for patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) after immunochemotherapy.

Methods: A total of 158 patients with relapsed or refractory DLBCL were enrolled. All patients underwent positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) before and after salvage therapy.

Incidences and Prognostic Impact of c-KIT, WT1, CEBPA, and CBL Mutations, and Mutations Associated With Epigenetic Modification in Core Binding Factor Acute Myeloid Leukemia: A Multicenter Study in a Korean Population.

Background: To identify potential molecular prognostic markers in core binding factor (CBF) AML, we analyzed incidences and prognostic impacts of mutations in c-KIT, WT1, CEBPA, CBL, and a number of epigenetic genes in CBF AML.

Methods: Seventy one and 21 AML patients with t(8;21) and inv(16) were enrolled in this study, respectively. NPM1, CEBPA, c-KIT, IDH1/2, DNMT3A, EZH2, WT1, and CBL mutations were analyzed by direct sequencing.

Risk stratification model in elderly patients with multiple myeloma: clinical role of magnetic resonance imaging combined with international staging system and cytogenetic abnormalities.

The International Staging System (ISS) does not take into consideration the clinical role of imaging modalities in multiple myeloma (MM), even though these are important. Some studies have indicated a lack of impact of ISS in MM patients who receive novel agents. Therefore, accessible novel risk stratification might be needed in elderly MM patients receiving conventional therapy or novel agents.