Production and persistence of specific antibodies in COVID-19 patients with hematologic malignancies: role of rituximab.

The ability of patients with hematologic malignancies (HM) to develop an effective humoral immune response after COVID-19 is unknown. A prospective study was performed to monitor the immune response to SARS-CoV-2 of patients with follicular lymphoma (FL), diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), chronic lymphoproliferative disorders (CLD), multiple myeloma (MM), or myelodysplastic/myeloproliferative syndromes (MDS/MPN). Antibody (Ab) levels to the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid (N) and spike (S) protein were measured at +1, +3, +6 months after nasal swabs became PCR-negative.

Predictive role of diffusion-weighted whole-body MRI (DW-MRI) imaging response according to MY-RADS criteria after autologous stem cell transplantation in patients with multiple myeloma and combined evaluation with MRD assessment by flow cytometry.

Background: Diffusion-weighted whole-body MRI (DW-MRI) is increasingly used in the management of multiple myeloma (MM) patients, but data regarding the prognostic role of DW-MRI imaging response after treatment are lacking. The Myeloma Response Assessment and Diagnosis System (MY-RADS) imaging recommendations recently proposed the criteria for response assessment category (RAC) with a 5-point scale in order to standardize response assessment after therapy, but this score still needs to be validated.

Methods: We investigated the prognostic role of RAC criteria in 64 newly diagnosed MM patients after autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT), and we combined the results of MY-RADS with those of minimal residual disease (MRD) assessment by multiparametric flow cytometry (MFC).

Among classic myeloproliferative neoplasms, essential thrombocythemia is associated with the greatest risk of venous thromboembolism during COVID-19.

In a multicenter European retrospective study including 162 patients with COVID-19 occurring in essential thrombocythemia (ET, n = 48), polycythemia vera (PV, n = 42), myelofibrosis (MF, n = 56), and prefibrotic myelofibrosis (pre-PMF, n = 16), 15 major thromboses (3 arterial and 12 venous) were registered in 14 patients, of whom all, but one, were receiving LMW-heparin prophylaxis. After adjustment for the competing risk of death, the cumulative incidence of arterial and venous thromboembolic events (VTE) reached 8.5% after 60 days follow-up.

Clinical characteristics and risk factors for mortality in hematologic patients affected by COVID-19.

Background: Patients with cancer are considered highly vulnerable to the recent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. However, there are still few data on COVID-19 occurring in hematologic patients.

Methods: One hundred two patients with COVID-19 symptoms and a nasopharyngeal swab positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 seen at 2 hematologic departments located in Lombardy, Italy, during March 2020 were studied.