Publications by authors named "Yi L Hwa"

As patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM) continue to live longer, they might get exposed to most available drugs and drug classes during the disease course. For such late line RRMM or among patients without access to novel therapies, retreatment with a drug that the disease had previously been refractory to might be one option. In this retrospective study, we describe 315 patients with RRMM at our institution who were retreated with a drug that the disease had been previously refractory to.

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  • Thrombocytopenia, defined as a platelet count under 150,000/mm, was present in 18.5% of 648 newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (MM) patients who received novel treatments between 2008 and 2018.
  • Factors linked to higher rates of thrombocytopenia included specific disease characteristics like IgA myeloma, advanced stages of disease, renal failure, and high plasma cell percentages.
  • Patients with thrombocytopenia had significantly shorter median overall survival (64.4 months) compared to those without it (145.0 months) and this condition was found to independently increase mortality risk.
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  • Refractoriness to lenalidomide significantly influences initial treatment choices for multiple myeloma (MM) at first relapse, though the relationship between resistance and dosage remains unclear.
  • The study compared patient outcomes based on whether they were refractory to standard or low doses of lenalidomide after initial treatment, finding no difference in progression-free survival (PFS) between these groups.
  • Results indicate that lenalidomide resistance does not depend on dosage and that refractoriness classification should not vary with the amount of lenalidomide administered.
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Measures of muscle and adipose tissue mass have been associated with outcomes in several malignancies, but studies in multiple myeloma (MM) are inconsistent. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between muscle and fat areas and radiodensity, and overall survival (OS) in patients with newly diagnosed MM. We included 341 patients diagnosed with MM from 2010-2019 who had an F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography at diagnosis.

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Patients with multiple myeloma (MM) who do not respond to initial therapy have worse outcomes than primary responders, and effective treatments are lacking in this population. However, the outcomes of primary refractory disease in the modern treatment era have not yet been studied. We reviewed patients with MM treated with triplet/quadruplet therapy at our institution to assess the incidence of primary refractory disease and the impact of salvage therapies in this population.

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Overall survival estimates from diagnosis are valuable for guiding treatment, but do not consider the years already survived. Conditional survival (CS) provides dynamic survival predictions over time. This study was conducted to estimate CS at 1-8 years from diagnosis and the impact of baseline prognostic factors on CS in multiple myeloma (MM) patients.

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Lenalidomide-containing (R) triplet and quadruplet regimens are the standard of care for multiple myeloma (MM) and have been shown to increase the risk of thrombosis. The association between thromboembolism (TE) and survival in the novel multidrug era is not yet delineated. In this study, we evaluated the incidence of TE during the first year of MM diagnosis, its association with the type of induction regimen, and its impact on overall survival.

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Introduction: The current treatment paradigm of AL amyloidosis lacks effective fibril-directed therapies. Doxycycline has been shown to have anti-fibril properties in preclinical models. In 2012, we reported that posttransplant prophylaxis with doxycycline was associated with improved survival compared to penicillin in patients with haematologic response.

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Background: Sarcopenia increases with age and is associated with poor survival outcomes in patients with cancer. By using a deep learning-based segmentation approach, clinical computed tomography (CT) images of the abdomen of patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (NDMM) were reviewed to determine whether the presence of sarcopenia had any prognostic value.

Methods: Sarcopenia was detected by accurate segmentation and measurement of the skeletal muscle components present at the level of the L3 vertebrae.

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Patients with multiple myeloma (MM) have a lower efficacy from COVID-19 vaccination and a high rate of mortality from COVID-19 in hospitalized patients. However, the overall rate and severity of COVID-19 infection in all settings (including non-hospitalized patients) and the independent impact of plasma cell-directed therapies on outcomes needs further study. We reviewed the medical records of 9225 patients with MM or AL amyloidosis (AL) seen at Mayo Clinic Rochester, Arizona, and Florida between 12/01/2019 and 8/31/2021 and identified 187 patients with a COVID-19 infection (n = 174 MM, n = 13 AL).

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Article Synopsis
  • Miller et al. found no link between clonal hematopoiesis of intermediate potential (CHIP) and increased 28-day mortality from COVID-19, while suggesting IL-6 signaling might indirectly affect patient outcomes.* -
  • Ho et al. studied patients with monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) and reported that 25% experienced severe COVID-19 infections.* -
  • The presence of immunoparesis in MGUS patients was identified as a significant factor associated with worse outcomes in the context of COVID-19.*
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High-dose melphalan followed by autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) remains the standard of care for transplant-eligible patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (NDMM). Achievement of complete response (CR) and minimal residual disease (MRD) negativity are associated with improved progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). With superior triplet- and quadruplet-based induction regimens, a higher proportion of patients are achieving deep responses of at least a very good partial response (VGPR) or better.

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Introduction: Vitamin D deficiency is common, but no data have been reported on vitamin D levels in light chain (AL) amyloidosis.

Patients And Methods: In this exploratory study, stored serum samples from 173 patients with newly diagnosed AL amyloidosis were analyzed for vitamin studies which included 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D], 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D [1,25(OH)D] and vitamin D binding protein (DBP). Measurements were made by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.

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Bortezomib, a proteasome inhibitor (PI), has shown efficacy in the treatment of newly diagnosed and relapsed light chain (AL) amyloidosis, and is often used in combination with cyclophosphamide and dexamethasone. Ixazomib is the first oral PI to be approved in routine practice but has not yet been evaluated in the upfront treatment setting. Newly diagnosed AL amyloidosis patients with measurable disease and adequate organ function were enrolled.

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Almost all patients with multiple myeloma (MM) eventually relapse, either asymptomatically or with end-organ damage. However, it remains unclear whether initiating therapy at the time of biochemical progression (BP) improves the outcomes compared with initiating therapy at the clinical progression (CP) stage. Here, we retrospectively assessed 1347 patients with relapsed MM.

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Risk stratification in multiple myeloma is important for prognostication, patient selection for clinical trials, and comparison of treatment approaches. We developed and validated a staging system that incorporates additional FISH abnormalities not included in the R-ISS and reflects the additive effects of co-occurring high-risk disease features. We first evaluated the prognostic value of predefined cytogenetic and laboratory abnormalities in 2556 Mayo Clinic patients diagnosed between February 2004 and June 2019.

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Castleman disease (CD) is a rare lymphoproliferative disease characterized by diverse clinical and pathologic features. Due to its rarity, there are limited studies comparing currently available therapies. The role of autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) in CD has not yet been established.

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Gain of 1q22 at diagnosis portends poorer outcomes in multiple myeloma (MM), but the prognostic significance of acquired 1q22 gain is unknown. We identified 63 MM patients seen at Mayo Clinic from 1/2004 to 12/2019 without 1q22 gain at diagnosis who acquired it during follow up and compared them to 63 control patients who did not acquire 1q22 gain with similar follow up. We also compared outcomes in the acquired 1q22 gain group with outcomes in 126 patients with 1q22 gain present at diagnosis.

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Advances in the understanding of disease biology, drug development, and supportive care have led to improved outcomes in multiple myeloma. Given that these improvements have been reported in clinical trial and referral center populations, questions remain about the generalizability of this observation to patients treated in the community. Contrasting the overall survival experience of 3783 patients seen at Mayo Clinic and 57,654 patients followed in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program (SEER) between 2004 and 2018, we observed different mortality trends across patient populations and subgroups.

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