Incidence of invasive fungal infections in patients with hematological malignancies receiving ibrutinib therapy in south-east Austria.

Since the broad implementation of ibrutinib therapy, an increasing number of studies have been reported on invasive fungal infections (IFI) associated with ibrutinib administration. We conducted a retrospective cohort study in three hospitals in south-east Austria in order to assess the local epidemiology of ibrutinib associated IFIs. A total of 113 patients with underlying hematological malignancy were included in the study. During the study period, a single IFI episode was observed, which corresponds to an IFI incidence of 2.3 cases per 100 person years (95% CI: 0.12-11.47). IFIs during ibrutinib therapy seem to be a rare event in case of absent additional risk factors for IFIs.

Ibrutinib is an effective drug used to treat a variety of blood cancers, but it might increase risk for life-threatening invasive fungal infections (IFIs). In our study, a low number (1 IFI per 43 patient years) of patients on ibrutinib developed an IFI.

Elevated amylase in plasma represents an adverse prognostic marker in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer : A retrospective analysis.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: The aim of this study was to investigate the prognostic relevance of plasma amylase and lipase concerning survival of patients suffering from metastatic pancreatic cancer (PC). METHOD: This retrospective study included 351 patients with metastatic PC, who were treated in a single academic institution. Cancer-specific survival (CSS) was analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method. To further evaluate the prognostic significance of lipase and amylase, univariate and multivariate values were calculated using Cox proportional models. RESULTS: In univariate analysis, an increased amylase level was associated with shorter CSS in PC patients (hazard ratio HR = 1.258; 95% confidence interval CI = 1.011-1.566; p = 0.039). In multivariate analysis, including gender, age, CA19-9 and administration of chemotherapy, increased amylase levels prevailed as an independent prognostic factor for CSS (HR = 1.373; 95%CI = 1.004-1.878; p = 0.047). CONCLUSIONS: Plasma amylase was found to be an independent prognostic factor in patients with metastatic PC. The results indicate that amylase might represent a novel and useful marker for better patient stratification in PC management.