Vemurafenib skin phototoxicity is indirectly linked to ultraviolet A minimal erythema dose decrease.

BACKGROUND: Vemurafenib, an anti-rapidly accelerated fibrosarcoma kinase B (BRAF) molecule, improves survival among patients with metastatic BRAF-mutated melanoma. Photosensitivity, a frequent cutaneous adverse effect induced by vemurafenib, can lead to cessation of treatment. OBJECTIVES: To investigate photosensitivity mechanisms in patients treated with vemurafenib for metastatic melanoma. METHODS: In a prospective study of 12 patients, photobiological explorations with measurements of ultraviolet A (UVA) minimal erythema dose (MED) and polychromatic MED were performed over 3 days in all 12 patients. UVA MED and polychromatic MED were also assessed for four patients before treatment. We then performed spectrophotometric analyses of (i) serum and faeces in these four patients, before and after introduction of vemurafenib; (ii) the lyophilized form of vemurafenib without excipient added; and (iii) the lyophilized form of vemurafenib added to serum and faeces before treatment. RESULTS: Photosensitivity was present in 92% of the patients. UVA MED was normal before treatment and decreased after treatment, while polychromatic MED remained normal. The same three peaks (210, 260 and 310 nm) were identified in the spectrum for UVB and UVC but not for UVA on spectrophotometric analyses for each condition (lyophilized vemurafenib; serum and faeces after introduction of vemurafenib; and lyophilized vemurafenib added to serum and faeces before treatment). The peaks were different before treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Our study confirms that photosensitivity under vemurafenib treatment was a UVA phototoxicity reaction, and our results suggest that a metabolite of vemurafenib rather than the parent molecule is involved in this phototoxicity.

Hematogones: an overview.

Hematogones were initially described as mysterious cells in bone marrow smears more than 70 years ago. These cells are normal bone marrow B-lymphocyte precursors with properties that overlap those of lymphoblasts. Their morphological and immunological features are described here with an update on the knowledge of hematogones in hematological and non-hematological disorders.

[Haematological malignancies (HM) in Basse-Normandie (BN): incidence and clinical and biological characteristics over the period 1997-2005 in patients less than 25 years old]. / Épidémiologie des hémopathies malignes en Basse-Normandie : incidence et caractéristiques cliniques et biologiques chez l'enfant et l'adulte jeune de moins de 25ans (1997-2005).

BACKGROUND: The study was designed to present the incidence of all the haematological malignancies (HM) in Basse-Normandie (BN) over the period 1997 to 2005 in patients less than 25 years old. BN is an administrative region in the North-West of France, composed of three departments: Calvados, Manche and Orne. We extracted data from the Registre régional des hémopathies malignes de Basse-Normandie, a French registry which belongs to the Association of the French Cancer Registries (Francim). METHODS: All the HM were coded using the third edition of the International classification for oncologic diseases (ICD-O-3). We compared the clinical and biological descriptive data in patients less than 15 years old to those of young adults (15-24 years old). RESULTS: A total of 305 new cases of HM were recorded over the period 1997 to 2005. HM were more frequent in men (168 cases) than in women (137 cases). Patients less than 25 years old accounted for 4.1% of all HM cases, whereas patients less than 15 years old and young adults (15-24 years old) represented 2.2% and 1.9% of all cases, respectively. In patients less than 25 years old, the overall world-standardized incidence rates (WSR) were 7.67/100,000 (95% CI: 6.31-9.04) in BN (8.08 [6.15-10.02] for men and 7.24 [5.31-9.17] for women). In patients less than 15years, the overall WSR was 7.38/100,000 (6.23-8.52), with no difference between boys (7.57) and girls (7.17). Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) was the most frequent HM, WSR=4.02/100,000 (3.16-4.88) (4.30 [3.08-5.53] in men, 3.73 [2.52-4.93] in women), with similar clinical and biological criteria between patients less than 15 years and young adults. In young adults, the overall WSR was 8.21/100,000 (7.47-8.96), similar between men and women (9.02 [7.93-10.12] and 7.37 [6.35-8.38], respectively). Their highest WSR was obtained for Hodgkin lymphomas (HL): 3.37/100,000 (2.89-3.85), similar between men (3.49 [2.8-4.17]) and women (3.25 [2.58-3.93]). The study did not show any significant difference between the Calvados, Manche and Orne departments (except for HL, which seems more frequent in Manche department for 15-24 years old cases). There was no evidence of an increased risk for ALL in the subdistricts Beaumont-Hague and Les Pieux, which respectively have a nuclear waste reprocessing plant and a nuclear power plant on their territory. The subtype of HM was dependent on age whereas clinical and biological data were the same, whatever the age. CONCLUSION: These results contribute to HM monitoring in an area where the nuclear industry is present and to improve the organization and follow-up of medical care.

Guidance for storing blood samples in laboratories performing complete blood count with differential.

INTRODUCTION: The complete blood count (CBC) with differential leukocyte count (DIFF) is an important part of clinical laboratory analyses and provides crucial data for clinicians. Delivery time after blood collection and conditions of storage is known to affect the reliability of results of some hematologic parameters. The aim of this study was to assess the variations of hematologic parameters over time and the influence of storage temperature. METHODS: Blood samples were randomly selected from hospitalized patients and stored at room temperature and at 4 °C. CBC and DIFF were performed on an automated hematology analyzer and the results between the two groups were compared. RESULTS: Samples stored at room temperature showed an important increase in mean corpuscular volume and hematocrit and a decrease in mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration. Neutrophil counts tended to increase, whereas monocyte counts tended to decrease. CONCLUSION: Storing samples at 4 °C improved reproducibility over time of all quantitative and qualitative parameters. We also observed that NEUT-X, a routine parameter useful in detecting myelodysplastic syndrome, became unreliable when analyzed 24 h after sample collection. Our results led us to recommend that samples should be analyzed within 6 h, particularly if samples are transported at room temperature. We also recommend storing samples at 4 °C in case of remote CBC analysis, especially in the context of clinical trials.

Performance evaluation of the body fluid mode on the platform Sysmex XE-5000 series automated hematology analyzer.

We evaluated the performance of the automated body fluid mode of the Sysmex XE-5000 series automated haematology analyzer and compared the performance of the automated method for obtaining white blood cell (WBC), red blood cell (RBC) counts and WBC differential counts with microscopic method. One hundred and seventy-four samples were analysed: 81 ascitic fluid, 32 cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), 26 pleural fluid (PF), 18 synovial fluid (SF), 13 peritoneal fluid (PeF) and 4 other types. The agreement between the automated method and the manual reference showed high correlation, with Pearson correlation coefficients greater than 0.9 for all types of body fluids. We also demonstrate that the automated body fluid analysis on the XE-5000 is an acceptable alternative to the microscopic reference method as far as ascitic fluid, peritoneal dialysis fluid, SF or PF are concerned. Conversely, results for body fluid samples from oncology patients with leukaemia or tumours showed significant differences between both methods, as XE-5000 counted blast cells and neoplastic cells in mononuclear cell count. XE-5000 could represent an attractive method for the automated analysis of WBC, RBC, mononuclear cell count (MNC) and polymorphonuclear (PMN) cells of most body fluids. However, CSFs from patients with leukaemia or lymphoma should be processed with the microscopic reference method in order to detect abnormal leukaemic cells.

[Haematological malignancies: incidence in Basse-Normandie, France, for 1997-2004]. / Epidémiologie des hémopathies malignes en Basse-Normandie.

BACKGROUND: The study was designed to present the incidence of all the haematological malignancies in Basse-Normandie over the period 1997-2004. We extracted the data from the "Registre régional des hémopathies malignes de Basse-Normandie (RRHMBN)", a French registry which belongs to the Association of the French Cancer Registries (FRANCIM). All the malignant haematological diseases were coded using the third edition of the International Classification for Oncologic Diseases (ICD-O-3) and the ADICAP classification, a special version adapted in 2001 for haematology. Five thousand five hundred and ten new cases of malignant haematological disorders were registered over the period 1997-2004. Whatever the department constituting the Basse-Normandie (Calvados, Manche and Orne), no significant difference of incidence was detected. In men, the more frequent malignant disorders were non-Hodgkin's malignant lymphomas (NHML) followed by chronic lymphocytic leukemia and other mature neoplasms, myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), multiple myeloma (MM), myeloproliferative disorders (MPD), acute myeloid leukemias (AML), Hodgkin's lymphomas (HL), Waldenström's macroglobulinemia (WM) and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). In women, MM is the third more frequent haematological disorders after NHML and lymphocytic leukaemia and other mature neoplasms, MPD, MDS, AML, Hodgkin's lymphomas, WM and ALL. The other haematological disorders are very rare. We provide the incidence for the main haematological disorders and for the first time we also present the incidence of the different subtypes of the Hodgkin's and non-Hodgkin's malignant lymphomas, mature lymphoid neoplasms, MPD and also MDS. These results are useful for the organization and follow-up of medical care. The development of specialized haematology and active protocols can optimize the management of the older patients. A high quality of the collected data remains necessary for a continuous watching and research on patients with malignant haematological diseases.

Performance evaluation and relevance of the CellaVision DM96 system in routine analysis and in patients with malignant hematological diseases.

The CellaVisiontrade mark DM96 is an automated image analysis system dedicated to locating and preclassifying the various types of white blood cells in peripheral blood smears. The system also partially characterizes of the red blood cell morphology and is able to perform platelet counts. We routinely analyzed the blood samples from 440 patients with quantitative and/or qualitative abnormalities detected by the XE-2100 Sysmextrade mark. Only 2.6% of cells are not identified by DM96trade mark. After classification of the unidentified cells very good correlation coefficients are observed between DM96trade mark and manual microscopy for most hematological parameters and accuracy is judged excellent up to 98%. For most common parameters, false positive and false negative ratios are also very good. Whatever the pathology and the number of blasts on smear, all patients were positive for blast detection on DM96trade mark. The system is a useful tool for assisting in the diagnosis and classification of most acute or chronic leukemia. Automatic cell location and preclassification, along with unique cell views on the computer screen, could reduce the time spent performing differentials and make real-time collaboration between colleagues a natural part of the classification process. The workstation also provides an ergonomically correct and relaxed working environment. We suggest its use in routine analysis; the system could be very helpful for the accurate morphological diagnosis of samples from patients with malignant hematological disease.

[Myxoma of the right ventricle in monozygotic twins: surgical ablation]. / Myxome du ventricule droit chez des jumeaux monozygotes. Ablation chirurgicale.

Monozygotic twins aged 23 underwent surgery, at an interval of 4 months from each other, for a myxomatous tumour of the right ventricle which had been completely asymptomatic until then. The authors present the clinical, electrocardiographic and angiographic findings, together with details of the operation and of the histological findings. They recall how rare a site this is, and summarise some of the observations which have been made on familial myxomas.