Immunologic Predictors of Vaccine Responsiveness in Patients With Lymphoma and Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia.

Patients with B-cell lymphomas have altered cellular components of vaccine responses due to malignancy and therapy, and the optimal timing of vaccination relative to therapy remains unknown. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 vaccines created an opportunity for new insights in vaccine timing because patients were challenged with a novel antigen across multiple phases of treatment. We studied serologic messenger RNA vaccine response in retrospective and prospective cohorts with lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia, paired with clinical and research immune parameters. Reduced serologic response was observed more frequently during active treatment, but nonresponse was also common within observation and posttreatment groups. Total immunoglobulin A and immunoglobulin M correlated with successful vaccine response. In individuals treated with anti-CD19-directed chimeric antigen receptor-modified T cells, nonresponse was associated with reduced B and T follicular helper cells. Predictors of vaccine response varied by disease and therapeutic group, and therefore further studies of immune health during and after cancer therapies are needed to individualize vaccine timing.

The Connell Stitch: A Two-Generation Contribution to Gastrointestinal Surgery.

The history of the Connell Stitch begins at the Milwaukee County Hospital in 1887 and continues across two generations of surgeons, Dr. M.E. Connell and Dr. F Gregory Connell. With this historical article, we review the evolution of the Connell stitch in context of the surgeons responsible for the stitch's development and evolution. Understanding the history of the Connell stitch facilitates a better appreciation for the Connell Stitch that we know and use today.