First-line Anti-GD2 Therapy Combined With Consolidation Chemotherapy in 3 Patients With Newly Diagnosed Metastatic Ewing Sarcoma or Ewing-like Sarcoma.

Despite multimodal therapy, the prognosis of patients with metastatic Ewing sarcoma (ES) remains poor, with new treatments urgently needed. The disialoganglioside GD2, a well-established tumor-associated antigen, is expressed in 40% to 90% of ES cells, making it a suitable therapeutic target. Here we report 3 cases with newly diagnosed, metastatic, GD2-positive ES or Ewing-like sarcoma treated with the anti-GD2 antibody dinutuximab beta in addition to standard chemotherapeutic regimens. Treatment was well-tolerated, and all patients achieved complete remission, without evidence of relapse. First-line anti-GD2 immunotherapy in patients with metastatic, GD2-positive ES or Ewing-like sarcoma represents a promising therapeutic option that warrants further clinical evaluation.

Pseudomembranous necrotizing tracheobronchitis caused by Aspergillus spp--contribution of one case with acute myeloid leukemia.

Acute tracheobronchitis is a rare clinical manifestation of respiratory tract invasive aspergillosis, sporadically reported in patients with hematological malignancies against the background of conventional chemotherapy. The authors report on a case of pseudomembranous necrotizing form of histologically proven tracheobronchitis, caused by Aspergillus spp in the time of induction chemotherapy in a patient with acute myeloid leukemia. The clinical evolution is gradual: from mild non-specific manifestations of acute tracheobronchitis against the background of a prolonged fever unaffected by antibiotic therapy to the onset of severe acute respiratory insufficiency and unilateral bronchial obstruction syndrome. Multiple spontaneous expectoration of a part of the bronchial wall was observed in which Aspergillus spp hyphae were histologically proven. Tracheobronchoscopy verified nearly complete obturation of the left main bronchus with thick mucous plugs. Lethal outcome from the infection occurred at the stage of hematological remission because of a massive hemoptysis. The diagnostic methods, therapeutic possibilities and differential diagnosis of this rare infectious complication in immunocompromised patients are discussed.