Comparison between ixazomib+cyclophosphamide+dexamethasone regimen and ixazomib+dexamethasone regimen for elderly and frail patients having newly diagnosed multiple myeloma.

AIMS: The purpose of this prospective, randomized study was to investigate the effectiveness and safety of the ixazomib+cyclophosphamide+dexamethasone (ICd) and ixazomib+dexamethasone (Id) regimens in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (NDMM) who were elderly and frail and to compare the two regimens. METHODS: Patients were randomly grouped into ICd and Id group. The primary end point was ORR, and patients who received at least two cycles were analyzed. The median follow-up was 13.5 months. After nine induction cycles, patients were instructed to take single ixazomib for maintenance. RESULTS: The overall response rate in the ICd and Id groups was 78.9% and 70.6%, respectively, whereas the very good partial remission or better rate was 47.4% and 23.5%, respectively. For the ICd and Id groups, the response rate after 4 cycles was 76.5% and 57.1%, and the median duration to response was 2 and 4 months, respectively. Adverse events (AEs) included gastrointestinal intolerance, rash, fatigue, and thrombocytopenia, with severe AEs occurring in 21.1% and 23.5% patients in the ICd and Id groups, respectively, and the AEs were manageable. Both the QLQ-C30 and QLQ-MY20 scales indicated that ICd and Id regimens could help maintain and improve the quality of life(QoL). CONCLUSIONS: The ICd and Id regimens might be effective and well-tolerated in elderly and frail patients with NDMM. In addition, a favorable outcome was observed that ICd might tend to cause faster and higher remission than Id regimen without increasing the risk of AEs. The long-term effectiveness and safety of the two regimens need further investigation.

Association between interleukin gene polymorphisms and multiple myeloma susceptibility.

The present study performed a retrospective observational study in order to investigate the relationship between the interleukin family gene polymorphisms and risk of multiple myeloma (MM), based on sixteen case-control studies that contained 2,597 patients with MM and 3,851 controls. The results demonstrated that the genotypes IL-6 and IL-1 GG increased the risk of MM by approximately 40.8 and 80.2% compared with the genotypes AA and CC [odds ratio (OR)=1.14, 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.88-1.47, and OR=1.16, 95% CI, 0.61-2.19; respectively]. The results also revealed a significant association between T:C polymorphism of the IL-6 and IL-10 and the risk of MM (TC/CC: OR=1.37, 95% CI, 0.88-2.16 and TT/CC: OR=1.26, 95% CI, 0.77-2.06, respectively). Additionally, no significant association was identified between the C:A polymorphisms of the IL-6 (rs8192284) and IL-10 (rs1800872) receptors and the overall risk of MM (P>0.05). G:C polymorphisms of the IL-1ß1464G>C and IL-6572G>C significantly increased the risk of MM (P<0.05). However, it has been determined that there is a significant association between the C:T polymorphism of the IL-1α-889C>T and IL-1ß-3737C>T and the risk of MM (P<0.001). Subgroup analysis revealed that the detection of G:A polymorphisms in the IL-6 promoter (OR=1.05, 95% CI, 0.78-1.44) is more accurate in MM samples of the Asian population (OR=1.24, 95% CI, 0.92-1.74). In addition, no significant association was identified between the IL gene polymorphisms in MM samples categorized by ethnicity and the IL family type (P=0.27). These single nucleotide polymorphism loci may be the appropriate gene markers for gene screening and a promising therapeutic strategy in the prognostics of patients with MM.

[Influencing Factors of Nosocomial Infection after Chemotherapy in Adult Patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia and Its Control Strategy].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the influencing factors of nosocomial infection in adult patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and its control strategies. METHODS: The clinical data of 109 patients with AML treated in our hospital from June 2014 to June 2017 were retrospectively analyzed. The clinical factors were analyzed retrospectively, and the influencing factors of infection after chemotherapy were explored. RESULTS: A total of 109 patients received chemotherapy for 267 case-times, the infection occurred in 168 case-times, the nosocomial infection rate was 62.92%, the main affected sites included upper respiratory tract and lung. 155 samples from 168 case-times infection patients were collected and cultured, 32 pathogens were obtained with a positive rate 20.6% (32/155), including 14 Gram-negative bacteria, 9 Gram-positive bacteria and 4 strains of fungi and 5 strains of other pathogens. Statistics showed that the patient's age over 40 years old, hospitalization in spring and summer, glucocorticoid therapy, high intensity chemotherapy, neutrophil count, white blood cell count and hemoglobin content were the independent risk factors for infection after chemotherapy in AML patients (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: The age of more than 40 years old, hospitalization in spring and summer, glucocorticoid therapy, high-intensity chemotherapy, white blood cell count, neutrophil count and hemoglobin content are the independent risk factors for infection after chemotherapy in the AML patients with the above-mentioned characteristics, they should be closely monitored, and chemotherapy intensity should be controled, so as to control the occurrence of infection; and in the event of infection, a timely powerful anti-infective treatment would be indispensable.

[Effect of Shh and BM-MSC Synergism on the Proliferation of Hematopoietic Stem Cells].

OBJECTIVE: To study the effect and mechanism of shh and mesenchymal stem cell（MSC）synergism on the proliferation of hematopoietic stem cells in noninvasive co-culture system in vitro. METHODS: The mesenchymal stem cells were cultured in vitro，CD34+ cells were sorted by mini MACS magnetic bead separator，flow cytometry was used to identify the purity of 2 cells. CD34+ cells and MSCs were seeded to upper and low of transwell respecibely for non-contact coculture，and add exogenous shh protein for intervenece. The number of MSCs and HSCs，the total amount of RNA，the expression of ki67 and Tie-2 mRNA of HSC，the expression of VEGF and Ang-1 mRNA of MSC were detected for investigating the condition of cell proliferation and the expression of angiogenic factors. RESULTS: The total number of cells，the total amount of RNA and the relative expression of ki67, Tie-2, VEGF and Ang-1 in non-contact co-culture group increased and showed the following trends on the 7th day：the above-mentioned indexes in group MSC + HSC, group shh + HSC were higher than those in group HSC, while those in MSC + shh + HSC Group was higher than those in MSC + HSC and shh + HSC group. CONCLUSION: Angiogenic factors help MSC to proliferate HSC and amplify the CD34+ hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells by shh and MSC synergism in vitro coculture system which may be related with angiogenic factors.