Cost-effectiveness analysis of treating transplant-eligible multiple myeloma patients in Macedonia.

Purpose: A decision-analytic model was developed to study the impact of induction regimens vincristine, adriamycin, dexamethasone (VAD); thalidomide, dexamethasone (TD); and bortezomib, dexamethasone (BorD), followed by autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) for treating multiple myeloma (MM) patients in Macedonia. Additionally, a cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) of treatment sequences to predict health effects and costs of different treatment sequences was performed.

Methods: Model strategies were based on a previously published study for treating patients with MM in Macedonia.

Analysis of Factors that Influence Hematopoietic Recovery in Autologous Transplanted Patients with Hematopoietic Stem Cells from Peripheral Blood.

Background: Successful hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) requires a rapid and durable hematopoietic recovery.

Aim: The aim of our study was to analyse factors that influence hematopoietic recovery after autologous HSCT.

Materials And Methods: Multiple regression analysis was used to analyse factors affecting neutrophil and platelet engraftment in 90 autologous transplanted patients - 30 with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), 30 with lymphoma and 30 with multiple myeloma (MM) from 2008 till 2016.

How is patient care for multiple myeloma advancing?

Treatment of multiple myeloma has undergone profound changes in the past years thanks to the increased understanding of the biology of the disease and the new treatment options. New drugs and effective approaches are currently available for the treatment of multiple myeloma, including immunomodulatory agents, proteasome inhibitors and autologous stem cell transplantation. Areas covered: We have described the recent updated criteria to start treatment in multiple myeloma and summarized clinical data from major studies including most recent agents.

Molecular Response in Patients with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Treated with Imatinib - Single Centre Experience.

Introduction of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) dramatically improves the treatment and survival of the patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) in the last decade. Imatinib (IM) and other TKI induce larger percentage of complete cytogenetic response (CCyR) and major molecular response (MMR). Treatment resistance to TKIs still remains an important problem in the treatment of CML.

Osteonecrosis of the Jaw After Bisphosphonates Treatment in Patients with Multiple Myeloma.

Background: Bone lytic lesion in Multiple myeloma are the most commonly presented symptoms which require treatment with bisphosphonates (BPs). BPs are providing supportive care, reducing the rate of skeletal morbidity but evidently not abolishing it, the criteria for stopping their administration have to be different from those used for classic antineoplastic drugs, and they should not be stopped when metastatic bone disease is progressing. Osteonecrosis of the jaw (ONJ) has been associated recently with the use of BPs.

Tretatment approach of nontransplant patients with multiple myeloma.

Multiple myeloma is still an incurable disease with pattern of regression and remission followed by multiple relapses raising from the residual myeloma cells surviving even in the patients who achieve complete clinical response to treatment. In recent years there is a huge improvement in treatment of patients with multiple myeloma. The milestones of these improvement are: autologous transplantation and high-dose melphalan, imunomodulating drugs (thalidomide, lenalidomide), proteosom inhibitors (bortesomib, carfilzomib).

Influence of Prognostic Factors on OverallSurvival in Myelodysplastic Syndromes.

Background: Accurate prediction of a patient's prognosis is useful to define the risk posed by the disease. Age, gender, peripheral blood cytopenia, proportion of bone marrow (BM) blasts, performance status, comorbidities, transfusion dependence, specific karyotype abnormalities and molecular biomarkers can refine the prediction of prognosis in MDS.

Aim: to assess the influence of the some prognostic factors like age, gender, cytopenia, BM blast percentage, transfusion dependence, ferritin, hemoglobin (Hb), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), albumin and specific karyotype abnormalities in myelodysplastic syndromes on overall survival (OS).

New approaches to management of multiple myeloma.

Multiple myeloma is still an incurable disease with pattern of regression and remission followed by multiple relapses raising from the residual myeloma cells surviving even in the patients who achieve complete clinical response to treatment. New antimyeloma drugs such as thalidomide, lenalidomide, and bortezomib have dramatically changed treatment paradigm leading to both tumor reduction and tumor suppression. Much progress has been made, but still many unsolved questions remain.

Acute graft versus host disease in hematopoietic stem cell alotransplant recipients.

Introduction: The transplantation of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCT) is a therapeutic intervention where the hematopoietic stem cells and the cells originating from them are being removed and replaced by the normal stem cells of donor or the patient him/her-self. HSCT today represent standardized biological manipulation for treating malignant, genetic and autoimmune diseases. The application of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is limited by life-threatening complications such as severe or acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD).

Hairy cell leukemia treatment: where we are now?

Hairy cell leukemia (HCL) is a very rare type of leukemia, in which abnormal B lymphocytes, present in the bone marrow, spleen, and peripheral blood stream, get worse slowly or do not get worse at all. HCL is the disease where patients have pancytopenia with splenomegalia over 90% percent, palpable lymphadenopathy occur in 35% of patients, some form of serious infection eventually developed in over 50% of patients and was the most common cause of death in patients. HCL is dominantly a male disease, with the male-female ratio, ranging from 4:1 to 7:1.