Assessment of the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of EORTC QLQ-MY20 and evaluation of health-related quality of Life outcomes in patients with relapsed and/or refractory multiple myeloma in the real-world setting in Spain: results from the CharisMMa study.

We evaluated the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Multiple Myeloma (MM) specific quality-of-life (QoL) questionnaire module (QLQ-MY20) in relapsed/refractory MM (RRMM) patients. This was an observational, cross-sectional, multicenter study using EORTC QLQ-C30 and QLQ-MY20 in RRMM patients (ClinicalTrials.gov ID NCT03188536). We assessed the non-response rate, ceiling/floor effects, internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and validity. The study included 276 patients (53.3% males, mean [SD] age of 67.4 [10.5] years). The EORTC QLQ-MY20 showed a low non-response rate, very low ceiling and floor effects, and good internal consistency. The test-retest reliability assessment revealed good temporary stability, the construct validity analysis stated four main factors similar to the ones of the original version, and the criterion validity assessment showed no differences between groups. In conclusion, the Spanish version of EORTC QLQ-MY20 is a reliable and valid tool for assessing QoL in RRMM patients.

Role of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant for relapsed/refractory aggressive B-cell lymphomas in the CART era.

Anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor T cells (CART) has rapidly been adopted as the standard third-line therapy to treat aggressive B-cell lymphomas (ABCL) after failure of second-line therapy despite the lack of direct comparisons with allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (alloHCT)-based strategies. Using the Grupo Español de Trasplante y Terapia Celular (GETH-TC) registry, we selected patients with the following characteristics: CART or alloHCT performed between 2016 and 2021; ≥18 years old; ABCL diagnosis; ≥2 lines of therapy; and either anti-CD19 CART or alloHCT as therapy at relapse. The analysis included a total of 316 (CART = 215, alloHCT = 101) patients. Median follow-up was 15 and 36 months for the CART and alloHCT cohorts, respectively. In the multivariate analysis, CART was confirmed to be similar to alloHCT for the primary study endpoint (progression-free survival) (hazard ratio [HR] 0.92, CI95%:0.56-1.51, p = 0.75). Furthermore, when the analysis was limited to only patients with chemo-sensitive diseases (complete and partial response) at infusion (CART = 26, alloHCT=93), no differences were reported (progression-free survival at month +18: 65% versus 55%, p = 0.59). However, CART had lower non-relapse mortality (HR 0.34, 95% CI: 0.13-0.85, p = 0.02). Given the lower toxicity and similar survival outcomes, these results suggest the use of CART before alloHCT.

Recommendations for the treatment of invasive fungal infection caused by filamentous fungi in the hematological patient.

Antifungal treatment in the hematological patient has reached a high complexity with the advent of new antifungals and diagnostic tests, which have resulted in different therapeutic strategies. The use of the most appropriate treatment in each case is essential in infections with such a high mortality. The availability of recommendations as those here reported based on the best evidence and developed by a large panel of 48 specialists aimed to answer when is indicated to treat and which agents should be used, considering different aspects of the patient (risk of fungal infection, clinical manifestations, galactomanann test, chest CT scan and previous prophylaxis) may help clinicians to improve the results.