High incidence of post-transplant cytomegalovirus reactivations in myeloma patients undergoing autologous stem cell transplantation after treatment with bortezomib-based regimens: a survey from the Rome transplant network.

The incidence of cytomegalovirus (CMV) reactivations in patients with multiple myeloma (MM) receiving autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) is relatively low. However, the recent increased use of novel agents, such as bortezomib and/or immunomodulators, before transplant, has led to an increasing incidence of Herpesviridae family virus infections. The aim of the study was to establish the incidence of post-engraftment symptomatic CMV reactivations in MM patients receiving ASCT, and to compare this incidence with that of patients treated with novel agents or with conventional chemotherapy before transplant. The study was a survey of 80 consecutive patients who underwent ASCT after treatment with novel agents (Group A). These patients were compared with a cohort of 89 patients treated with VAD regimen (vincristine, doxorubicin, and dexamethasone) before ASCT (Group B). Overall, 7 patients (4.1%) received an antiviral treatment for a symptomatic CMV reactivation and 1 died. The incidence of CMV reactivations was significantly higher in Group A than in Group B (7.5% vs. 1.1%; P = 0.048). When compared with Group B, the CMV reactivations observed in Group A were significantly more frequent in patients who received bortezomib, whether or not associated with immunomodulators (9.4% vs. 1.1%; P = 0.019), but not in those treated with immunomodulators only (3.7% vs. 1.1%; P = 0.396). These results suggest that MM patients treated with bortezomib-based regimens are at higher risk of developing a symptomatic CMV reactivation after ASCT.

A prospective survey of febrile events in hematological malignancies.

The Hema e-Chart prospectively collected data on febrile events (FEs) in hematological malignancy patients (HMs). The aim of the study was to assess the number, causes and outcome of HM-related FEs. Data were collected in a computerized registry that systematically approached the study and the evolution of FEs developing in a cohort of adult HMs who were admitted to 19 hematology departments in Italy from March 2007 to December 2008. A total of 869 FEs in 3,197 patients with newly diagnosed HMs were recorded. Fever of unidentified origin (FUO) was observed in 386 cases (44.4%). The other causes of FE were identified as noninfectious in 48 cases (5.5%) and infectious in 435 cases (50.1%). Bacteria were the most common cause of infectious FEs (301 cases), followed by fungi (95 cases), and viruses (7 cases). Mixed agents were isolated in 32 episodes. The attributable mortality rate was 6.7% (58 FEs). No deaths were observed in viral infection or in the noninfectious groups, while 25 deaths were due to FUO, 16 to bacterial infections, 14 to fungal infections, and three to mixed infections. The Hema e-Chart provided a complete system for the epidemiological study of infectious complications in HMs.

[Mucositis in oncohematology]. / Le mucositi in corso di trattamento delle emopatie neoplastiche.

Mucositis is the result of the cytotoxic effects of many treatments given for hematological malignancies (HMs); it represents a major source of potentially devastating clinical complications and portrays negative consequences on the patient's management, such as a longer hospitalization, the need of analgesic and total parenteral nutrition use, and increased costs. The available measures for the prevention and treatment of mucositis have been substantially palliative, being limited to the control of pain, infection, bleeding and nutrition. However, in the last decade, a better insight into the complex pathogenesis of MBI has led to the development of novel therapeutic options, such as palifermin, which can provide tools potentially allowing a targeted approach to mucositis.

Pain syndromes in the setting of haematopoietic stem cell transplantation for haematological malignancies.

Severe pain syndromes may be recorded during all phases of haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) for haematological malignancies: from stem cell mobilization to the long-term post transplant period. Although the major cause of pain in the setting of HSCT is injury to mucosal tissues induced by the conditioning regimen, pain from several other causes has been reported. In this paper, we review pain and its management in the setting of HSCT.

Efficacy of caspofungin as secondary prophylaxis in patients undergoing allogeneic stem cell transplantation with prior pulmonary and/or systemic fungal infection.

Transplanted patients with a history of invasive fungal infection (IFI) are at high risk of developing relapse and fatal complications. Eighteen patients affected by hematological malignancies and a previous IFI were submitted to allogeneic stem cell transplantation, using Caspofungin as a secondary prophylaxis. Patients had a probable or proven fungal infection and 16 had a pulmonary localization. No side effects were recorded during treatment with Caspofungin. Compared to pre-transplant evaluation, stability or improvement of the previous IFI was observed in 16 of the 18 patients at day 30, in 13 of the 15 evaluable patients at day 180 and in 11 of the 11 evaluable patients at day 360 post transplant. In particular, all the six patients with a proven fungal infection were alive, with a stable or improved IFI after 1 year from transplant. At a maximum follow-up of 31 months, eight patients died for disease progression or transplant-related complications, but only two had evidence of fungal progression. Secondary prophylaxis with Caspofungin may represent a suitable approach to limit IFI relapse or progression, allowing patients with hematological malignancies to adhere to the planned therapeutic program.

Optimizing umbilical cord blood collection: impact of obstetric factors versus quality of cord blood units.

INTRODUCTION: The main limitation factor for wide use of umbilical cord blood units (UCBs) as a source of hematopoietic progenitors for transplantation is cell dose. International standard guidelines recommend 2 x 10(7)/kg as the minimal nucleated cell dose for UCB transplantation for adults and 3.7 x 10(7)/kg for children. Therefore it is important to the optimize donor selection and the collection method so as to achieve high cell doses. In this study our main purpose was to determine whether obstetric factors influence UCBs collected. STUDY DESIGN: The study involved 304 UCBs collected from January to December 2004. The UCBs were collected after donor selection based on international criteria for cord blood banking. We analyzed UCB biological features such as collected volume, total nucleated cells (TNC), and CD34-positive cells, and obstetric factors. RESULTS: First, our study showed by multivariate analysis that infant weight was the main factor that influenced biologic features of UCB collected such as total volume (P = .000), TNC (P = .000), CD34 total count (P = .003), and CFU-GM (P = .004). Placental weight > 600 g produced a better volume (P = .007) and increased TNC (P = .056). Gestational age > 39 weeks enhanced CD34% (P = .016). Regarding route of delivery, we found that cesarean section produced higher volume and reduced WBC count compared to vaginal delivery, regarding cord length, it increased TNC (P = .037). And last, we noticed that female infants increased WBC (P = .013) and CD34(+) total count (P = .019) more than male ones. CONCLUSIONS: Our results confirm that volume and TNC are influenced by several obstetric factors, such as greater infant and placental weight, predicting a better collection.

Evaluation of biological features of cord blood units collected with different methods after cesarean section.

INTRODUCTION: Cord blood banks are established worldwide as a result of the increased use of umbilical cord blood (UCB) transplantation. The outcomes of this procedure relate to the cell dose of the UCB unit and the UCB collection. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the mode of collection influenced the biological features of the UCB units. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We studied 151 UCB units consecutively collected in the cesarean setting with two different methods: in utero after infant delivery and before delivery of the placenta, and ex utero after delivery of placenta. RESULTS: Sixty-nine UCB units were collected in utero and 82 ex utero. The two groups were comparable for maternal and obstetric factors. The proportion of banked UCB units was similar in the two groups (38% vs 40%, respectively). No statistically significant differences were observed between the methods of collection in term of volume, white blood cell count, total nucleated cell content, CD34(+) cells, and CFU-GM. CONCLUSION: This preliminary study showed that the two methods of collection in the cesarean setting were overlapping and valid if performed according to standard operating procedures.

Elimination of clonogenic tumor cells from human bone marrow using a combination of monoclonal antibody:ricin A chain conjugates.

Effective autologous bone marrow transplantation for leukemia and lymphoma is likely to depend upon the selective removal in vitro of malignant cells from normal human bone marrow precursors. Highly specific cytotoxic conjugates formed by coupling ricin A chain to monoclonal antibodies might prove useful for the selective elimination of malignant cells. Consequently, ricin A chain conjugates have been prepared with several different murine monoclonal antibodies and tested for their ability to eliminate clonogenic Burkitt's lymphoma cells from an excess of human bone marrow. The most active reagents included an antibody:A chain conjugate which bound to the nonpolymorphic chain of the la molecule and another which reacted with the mu heavy chain of cell surface immunoglobulin. Conjugates formed with anti-common acute lymphoblastic leukemia antigen, anti-Mr 26,000 glycoprotein, and anti-B1 were much less active on these Burkitt's cells, contrasting with results of complement-dependent tumor cell lysis. Tumor cell kill was partially inhibited by the addition of greater than 2 X 10(6) human bone marrow cells/ml but could be potentiated by increasing the concentration of conjugate or by the addition of 10 mM ammonium chloride. In the presence of ammonium chloride, at least 4 logs of clonogenic tumor cells could be eliminated within 24 h from a 20-fold excess of bone marrow using 10(-7) M ricin A chain linked to one or two different antibodies. Similar treatment of normal human bone marrow temporarily inhibited granulocyte-macrophage colony-forming units (cell) formation but did not compromise establishment of continuous bone marrow cultures. The degree of selective elimination of tumor cells with A chain antibody conjugates was comparable to that achieved with 4-hydroperoxycyclophosphamide or with multiple monoclonal antibodies and complement.

The retinoblastoma gene product in acute myeloid leukemia: a possible involvement in promyelocytic leukemia.

The retinoblastoma susceptibility gene in leukemia and lymphoma has been investigated using different approaches involving either gene or protein analysis. In this study, a novel method, which evaluates the functional status of the retinoblastoma gene product by a binding assay to an in vitro-translated viral oncoprotein, has been applied to leukemic cells from acute myeloid leukemia patients. One hundred twenty-two cases were considered, and 42 of them were also analyzed by Western blot. Results obtained with the two methods were comparable, with the exception of few cases, where the retinoblastoma protein appeared detectable but unable to bind to the viral oncoprotein. The retinoblastoma protein has been found defective mostly in the M3 promyelocytic subtype.

Elimination of malignant clonogenic cells from human bone marrow using multiple monoclonal antibodies and complement.

A clonogenic assay has been developed that utilizes Burkitt's lymphoma tumor cell lines to detect elimination of up to 5 logs of tumor cell contamination within human bone marrow. Different Burkitt's lymphoma lines bear one or more of a group of markers, including common acute lymphoblastic leukemia antigen gp26 (glycoprotein with a molecular weight of 26,000), B1, surface membrane immunoglobulin, HLA, beta 2-microglobulin, and Ia. Burkitt's tumor cells of the Namalwa line have been mixed with a 20-fold excess of irradiated human bone marrow cells. After treatment with one or more monoclonal antibodies and rabbit complement (RC), mixtures have been grown on a monolayer of irradiated human bone marrow cells and tumor cells enumerated by limiting dilution. Multiple treatments with antibody and RC were more effective than a single treatment in destroying clonogenic tumor cells which bore relevant determinants. Human serum components inhibited the lytic activity of RC in the presence of murine monoclonal antibodies. The total concentration of bone marrow cells proved critical in determining the complete elimination of tumor. Incubation of the Namalwa tumor cell line with RC and the J2 anti-gp26 eliminated more than 3 logs of malignant cells from a 20-fold excess of human bone marrow. Combinations of two monoclonal antibodies were more effective than any single antibody in eliminating Namalwa cells. A combination of three monoclonal reagents was no more effective than a combination of J2 and B1 or J2 and J5 in eliminating Namalwa cells. Treatment of human bone marrow with three antibodies and RC did not, however, produce a selective loss of nonmalignant GM-CFU-C, CFU-E, or BFU-E.

Venetoclax: Bcl-2 inhibition for the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Venetoclax (ABT-199) is a small-molecule selective oral inhibitor of the antiapoptotic protein Bcl-2 that promotes programmed cell death of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) cells regulating the release of proapoptotic factors, such as Smac/Diablo, apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) and cytochrome c. In April 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to venetoclax for patients diagnosed with CLL with 17p deletion, as detected by an FDA-approved test, who have received at least one prior therapy. This review will focus on the mechanism of action, preclinical studies and clinical development of venetoclax both as a monotherapy and in combination with other drugs for CLL in the current milieu of therapy dominated by novel tyrosine kinase inhibitors such as ibrutinib and idelalisib.

p53 in chronic myeloid leukemia cell lines.

Four human chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) cell lines, BV173, K562, KCL-22, and KYO-1, were studied for inactivation of human tumor suppressor gene p53. Southern blotting showed allele deletion in KCL-22 and cytogenetic studies showed a chromosome 17 deletion in KYO-1 but no gross structural abnormalities in the other two lines. Northern blotting showed increased amounts of normal size p53 mRNA in BV-173 and KYO-1, trace amounts in KCL-22, and none in K562. Direct sequencing of p53 cDNA revealed a missense point mutation in KYO-1 and a single base pair deletion consistent with a coding frame shift in KCL-22. Both abnormalities in these myeloid cell lines were located in the highly conserved region of p53. Studies with two monoclonal antibodies showed that the three cell lines with p53 mRNA had readily detectable p53 proteins. In KYO-1 and BV173 cells the p53 protein was located mainly in the nuclei but KCL-22 cells had weak staining in the cytoplasm. Our data support the assumption that inactivation of p53 tumor suppressor function in myeloid blast transformation of CML may result from point mutations or deletions that produce mutant proteins.

Effect of bcr-abl oligodeoxynucleotides on the clonogenic growth of chronic myelogenous leukaemia cells.

We studied the effect of phosphorothioate oligodeoxynucleotides ([S]ODNs) complementary to the bcr-abl junction on cells taken at diagnosis from 41 patients with Philadelphia-positive chronic myelogenous leukaemia (CML). Experiments included the evaluation of the anti-leukaemic effect of 16- and 26-mer antisense [S]ODNs on both mononuclear and CD34+ cells, evaluation of incubation time and correlation of colony growth inhibition with the down-regulation of p210(bcr-abl). At the same time, the uptake of [S]ODNs by mononuclear and purified CD34+ cell populations and the cross-hybridization of 26- and 16-mer [S]ODNs with the complementary sequences were evaluated. After incubation for 120 h with 26-mer antisense [S]ODNs on mononuclear cells, overall mean colony recovery was 41.9% of the untreated control samples; in particular, a significant reduction in colony formation was observed in 22 of the 35 cases tested. The effect of 26-mer ODNs on CD34+ cells was comparable to that observed on mononuclear cells in terms of colony inhibition; however, a higher proportion of cases showed a significant inhibition of colony formation. In comparison with the 26-mer antisense [S]ODNs, the anti-leukaemic effect of the 16-mer antisense [S]ODNs was less evident on mononuclear cells and comparable on CD34+ cells; however, a more specific effect was evident on both target cells. Hybridization experiments confirmed a partial cross-reactivity when the 26-mer ODNs were hybridized with their complementary sequence; this did not occur when 16-mer ODNs were similarly tested. Experiments aimed at evaluating the effect of the incubation time showed a significant increase in anti-leukaemic effect after a 120 h incubation period compared to that measured after a 24 h incubation period; this was parallelled by a progressive increase in the intracellular concentrations of [S]ODNs from day 1 to day 5. The accumulation of [S]ODNs correlated with a marked down-regulation of p210(bcr-abl) levels which was first detectable after 72 h of treatment. The down-regulation of p210(bcr-abl) levels following treatment with [S]ODNs showed a correlation between the effect of antisense [S]ODNs on leukaemic colony formation and protein expression. These studies confirm that, under optimal conditions of target cell culture and ODN size, antisense [S]ODNs complementary to the bcr-abl junction have specific anti-leukaemic effects.

Pretransplant minimal residual disease level predicts clinical outcome in patients with acute myeloid leukemia receiving high-dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplantation.

A total of 31 adult patients with AML entered in the EORTC/GIMEMA AML-10 trial, who received autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) after induction and consolidation chemotherapy, were prospectively evaluated for minimal residual disease (MRD) by multidimensional flow cytometry (MFC). Using a cutoff level of 3.5 x 10(-4) leukemic cells pre-ASCT, 12 patients (39%) were stratified to MRD high-risk group and 19 (61%) into MRD low-risk group. During follow-up, all patients who were in the high-risk group relapsed at a median time of 7 months; in the low-risk group, five patients relapsed at a median time of 11 months and 14 remained in remission for 56 (range 7-80) months (P=0.00004). Longitudinal MFC determinations post-ASCT showed increased MRD levels in three of the five patients who underwent subsequent relapse, while disease recurrence was unpredicted in the remaining two cases. The pre-ASCT MRD status was the factor most strongly associated with relapse risk in the multivariate analysis (P=0.0014). We conclude that: (1) pre-ASCT MRD status predicts successful outcome in patients receiving ASCT; (2) high-dose chemotherapy conditioning regimen followed by ASCT has no impact on the unfavorable prognostic value of high pre-ASCT MRD level; and (3) sequential MRD monitoring post-ASCT may allow the prediction of impending relapse.

Pharmacological purging of syngeneic bone marrow ex vivo: effect of treatment with doxorubicin and lonidamine on normal and leukaemic cells of DBA/2 mice.

The in vivo effect of in vitro treatment with doxorubicin plus lonidamine on normal and leukaemic cells was investigated in a mouse model of syngeneic bone marrow transplantation. Different numbers of L5178Y tumour cells or normal bone marrow cells alone, or mixtures of bone marrow and leukaemic cells were incubated with doxorubicin (0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1 microgram/ml) and/or lonidamine (50 micrograms/ml) and reinfused in DBA/2 mice. Lonidamine potentiated the cytotoxic effect of doxorubicin dependent on doxorubicin dosage and tumour cell concentration. Survival after injection of 10(4) in vitro-treated tumour cells was 42% for doxorubicin 0.75 micrograms/ml alone versus 100% for the combination with lonidamine and 50% for doxorubicin 1 microgram/ml alone versus 100% combination. Reinfusion of normal bone marrow incubated with doxorubicin alone or in combination with lonidamine in lethally irradiated mice did not occur in 12-14% of mice injected, indicating that the repopulating ability of stem cells was spared. These data suggest the potential usefulness of lonidamine in ex vivo purging of bone marrow before autologous bone marrow transplants in haemopoietic malignancies.

Long-term neuropsychological deficits after cerebellar infarctions in two young adult twins.

Two young adult dizygotic twins with high schooling suffered two strokes at the ages of 26 and 30 years. On the first occasion, Case 2 suffered a stroke only a few months after Case 1; on the second occasion, Case 1 suffered a second stroke a few months after Case 2. In Case 1, lesions were mainly localized to the left cerebellar hemisphere in both stroke episodes. Case 2 suffered lesions localized to the right cerebellar hemisphere in the first stroke episode, and multiple lesions in both cerebellar hemispheres and the vermis, right pons and left thalamus during the second stroke episode. Seven years after the second stroke, despite full recovery of motor functions, the patients still show mild, yet selective, linguistic deficits (syntactic comprehension deficits, mild agrammatism, reading and writing disorders) without speech disturbances. They also present with selective dysfunctions in visuospatial short-term memory. Language disorders are ascribed to a dysfunction of the cerebellum in Case 1, while in Case 2 a dysfunction of the cerebellum and the thalamus is considered as both structures are part of the so-called 'frontal lobe system', which supports language generation. Visuospatial short-term memory disorders are attributed to an impaired ability to appreciate the organizing structure of the visual task and to poor planning strategies, which are in turn ascribed to cerebellar lesions. The role of the cerebellum in cognitive and linguistic functions is discussed.

CD9 antigen on acute non-lymphoid leukemia cells: preferential expression by promyelocytic (M3) subtype.

A monoclonal antibody (S17-12), previously described to recognize subsets of myelomonocytic cells, is demonstrated to bind CD9 antigen, a surface marker of B-cell precursors, platelets and several non-hematopoietic tissues. The proportion of S17-12, CD9-positive leukemic cells was determined in 102 patients with acute non-lymphocytic leukemia. It was found to be above 75% in 14/22 M3 cases (including 3/3 of microgranular variant) and only in 1/80 cases of different FAB subtype. Complete reactivity (greater than 95%) of leukemic clonogenic cells with CD9 MoAB was restricted to 4/18 M3 cases. Therefore, a high proportion of CD9-positive cells seems to be peculiar to M3 cases. This may help in the diagnosis of cases that lack typical morphological features.