Efficient Sensor Scheduling Strategy Based on Spatio-Temporal Scope Information Model.

In this paper, based on the information entropy and spatio-temporal correlation of sensing nodes in the Internet of Things (IoT), a Spatio-temporal Scope Information Model (SSIM) is proposed to quantify the scope of the valuable information of sensor data. Specifically, the valuable information of sensor data decays with space and time, which can be used to guide the system to make efficient sensor activation scheduling decisions for regional sensing accuracy. A simple sensing and monitoring system with three sensor nodes is investigated in this paper, and a single-step scheduling decision mechanism is proposed for the optimization problem of maximizing valuable information acquisition and efficient sensor activation scheduling in the sensed region. Regarding the above mechanism, the scheduling results and approximate numerical bounds on the node layout between different scheduling results are obtained through theoretical analyses, which are consistent with simulation. In addition, a long-term decision mechanism is also proposed for the aforementioned optimization issues, where the scheduling results with different node layouts are derived by modeling as a Markov decision process and utilizing the Q-learning algorithm. Concerning the above two mechanisms, the performance of both is verified by conducting experiments using the relative humidity dataset; furthermore, the differences in performance and limitations of the model are discussed and summarized.

Multiple myeloma patients with low proportion of circulating plasma cells had similar survival with primary plasma cell leukemia patients.

The common features shared by primary plasma cell leukemia (pPCL) and multiple myeloma (MM) with circulating plasma cells (CPCs) are peripheral blood invasion and expansion of plasma cells independent of the protective bone marrow (BM) microenvironment niche. However, few studies have addressed the relationship between pPCL and MM with CPCs. Here, we quantitated the number CPCs by conventional morphology in 767 patients with newly diagnosed MM; their clinic features were compared with those of 33 pPCL cases. When the presence of CPCs was defined as more than 2 % plasma cells per 100 nucleated cells on Wright-Giemsa stained peripheral blood smears, the incidence of MM with CPCs was 14.1 % in newly diagnosed MM. Patients with CPCs shared many clinical features with pPCL, especially clinical parameters related to tumor burden. However, no commonalities were found in immunophenotyping and cytogenetics. The prognosis of pPCL was poor, with a median progression free survival (PFS) of 12 months and an overall survival (OS) of 15 months. MM patients with CPCs had a clearly inferior PFS and OS as compared with the control cohort. Most interestingly, although the CPCs were not high enough to meet the diagnostic criteria for pPCL, the survival of MM patients with CPCs was comparable with that of pPCL, with a median PFS of 17 months and an OS of 25 months.

[Antiviral nucleotide-induced dynamic change of HBV DNA and HBsAg and significance of quarterly and annual quantitative measurements over 5-year follow-up of chronic hepatitis B patients].

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the dynamic changes in hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA and hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) levels in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients following treatment by antiviral nucleotide drugs over a 5-year follow-up period and to assess the clinical significance of quarterly and annual quantitative measurements. METHODS: One-hundred-and-ten patients with CHB were enrolled in the study and administered on-going standard mono-therapy with various antiviral nucleotide drugs. Over a 5-year period, the HBV DNA level was measured by quantitative PCR every three months and the HBsAg levels were measured by chemiluminescence once a year. The dynamic changes in HBV DNA and HBsAg levels were assessed by Chi-squared test and ANOVA. RESULTS: Only 90 of the CHB patients completed the 5-year follow-up and were included in the analysis. The patients who showed HBeAg-positivity at baseline (study start) had higher levels of HBV DNA and HBsAg than the patients showing HBeAg-negativity. In general, the antiviral nucleotide drug therapy induced downward trends in HBsAg and HBV DNA level over time (F = 17.1, 151.53, all P less than 0.05). However, the most robust reduction in HBV DNA occurred during the first year. The HBsAg level followed an opposite trend, with the most robust reductions occurring in the 3rd, 4th and 5th years of treatment. CONCLUSION: Long-term antiviral nucleotide mono-therapies induced decreases in HBV DNA and HBsAg levels in CHB patients, with the former being most reduced in the short-term and the latter in the long-term.

Toxic metals and the risks of sludge from the treatment of wastewater from beryllium smelting.

The release of highly toxic beryllium in sludge (BCS) produced by physico-chemical treatment of beryllium-containing wastewater from Be smelting production has become a growing concern with the widespread use of Be in the defense industry. This work investigated the potential mobility of Be in BCS. The toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) of BCS showed that the amount of leached Be was up to 202 mg L-1, which exceeded the regulated limit by nearly 10,000 times. The chemical fractionation analysis further revealed that the excessive amount of Be leached from BCS was contributed to the high content of acid-soluble fraction and reducible fraction of Be, which accounted for over 70% of the Be content. The results obtained from mineralogical automatic analyzer (MLA) showed that gypsum (23.23%) and epidote (19.55%) were the two major mineralogical phases of BCS. Both were small and loosely structured agglomerated particles with a D50 of 6.61 µm and 3.31 µm. ToF-SIMS results revealed that the Be distribution on the surface of BCS particles was relatively dispersed, with no aggregation or encapsulation. Be co-precipitated with gypsum and chlorite in the form of unstable Be(OH)2, which attached to the surface of these small particles. The unstable state of Be and the small size, loose structure and high liberation of the host material phases are the main reasons for the high leaching mobility of Be. The results of the risk assessment indicated that BCS posed an extremely high potential ecological risk, with Be being the most significant contributor.

[Clinical Characteristics and Survival Analysis of Patients with Plasma Cell Leukemia].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical characteristics, therapeutic response and prognosis of patients with plasma cell leukemia (PCL) and improve the understanding of this disease. METHODS: The clinical manifestations, laboratory tests and treatment response of 27 patients with plasma cell leukemia treated in The Second Hospital of Shanxi Medical University from December 2010 to August 2019 were analyzed retrospectively, and their clinical characteristics were summarized. Kaplan-Meier method was used for survival analysis. RESULTS: There were 18 cases of primary plasma cell leukemia (pPCL) and 9 cases of secondary plasma cell leukemia (sPCL). The male to female ratio was 1.7∶1. The median age was 62 years old. The first manifestations were bone pain, fatigue, fever, splenomegaly and bleeding, and a large number of plasma cell infiltration was observed in the morphological examination of peripheral blood and bone marrow cells. 13 cases were detected by immunotyping and all of them expressed CD38/CD138. 8 cases underwent karyotype analysis, and 3 cases were normal, clonal abnormalities occurred in 5 cases. FISH detection was performed in 12 cases, of which 8 cases were abnormal. In 17 cases of bortezomib based chemotherapy, the ovevall response rate was 52.9%, which was higher than that in the non-bortezomib group, but there was no significant difference between the two groups (P =0.242). The overall median survival time of 27 patients was 6.4 months, the median progression-free survival time was 3.5 months, and the median survival time of patients with pPCL and sPCL was 8.2 months and 2.4 months, respectively, the difference between the two groups was statistically significant (P =0.031). CONCLUSION: PCL is highly invasive and has diverse clinical manifestations, and is not sensitive to traditional chemotherapy. The median survival time of patients with pPCL is relatively longer than that of patients with sPCL. The chemotherapy regimen based on bortezomib improves the treatment effectiveness and prolongs the survival time of PCL patients.

[The relationship between C20orf54 gene rs3746804 position single nucleotide polymorphism and susceptibility to esophageal squamous cell carcinoma].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the association of C20orf54 gene rs3746804 position single nucleotide polymorphism and susceptibility to esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). METHODS: Purification of genomic DNA from whole blood was used the Maxwell(16) System. rs3746804 in C20orf54 was detected by direct sequencing in 434 ESCC patients from Changzhi (Shanxi province) and Linzhou (Henan province) and 554 healthy controls from Changzhi, Linzhou and including immigrators from Linzhou to Changzhi. RESULTS: For rs3746804, the genotypic frequencies of CT (37.5% vs 51.0%, 37.5% vs 52.0%), CC (44.2% vs 34.8%, 44.2% vs 33.0%) in Changzhi ESCC patients showed significant differences with healthy Changzhi controls and the healthy immigrator controls (all P < 0.05), and the frequencies of TT (18.3% vs 4.1%) and CC (44.2% vs 54.6%) in Changzhi ESCC patients showed significant differences with Linzhou ESCC patients (all P < 0.05). The genotypic frequencies of TT (4.1% vs 15.0%), CT (41.2% vs 52.0%) and CC(54.6% vs 33.0%) showed significant differences between Linzhou ESCC patients and the healthy immigrator controls (all P < 0.05), and the frequencies of TT (4.1% vs 14.1%) and CC(54.6% vs 34.8%) showed significant differences between Linzhou ESCC patients and Changzhi healthy controls (all P < 0.01). Meanwhile, there were significant differences between ESCC patients (including Changzhi and Linzhou ESCC patients) and healthy controls (including the healthy Changzhi, Linzhou and immigrator controls) in genotypic frequencies of CT (39.2% vs 48.7%) and CC (48.8% vs 38.2%) (all P < 0.01). CT and CT + TT genotype could decrease the risk of ESCC compared with the CC genotype (OR = 0.630, 95%CI 0.481 - 0.826; OR = 0.654, 95%CI 0.507 - 0.844). CONCLUSION: There is a closed relationship between SNP rs3746804 in C20orf54 and susceptibility to ESCC.

Clonal phylogeny and evolution of critical cytogenetic aberrations in multiple myeloma at single-cell level by QM-FISH.

Single-cell analysis is of significant importance in delineating the exact phylogeny of the subclonal population and in discovering subtle diversification. So far, studies of intratumor heterogeneity and clonal evolution in multiple myeloma (MM) were largely focused on the bulk tumor population level. We performed quantitative multigene fluorescence in situ hybridization (QM-FISH) in 129 longitudinal samples of 57 MM patients. All the patients had newly diagnosed and relapsed paired samples. An expanded cohort of 188 MM patients underwent conventional FISH (cFISH) to validate the cytogenetic evolution in bulk tumor level. Forty-three of 57 patients (75.4%) harbored 3 or 4 cytogenetic clones at diagnosis. We delineated the phylogeny of the subclonal tumor population and derived the evolutionary architecture in each patient. Patients with clonal stabilization had a significantly improved overall survival (OS) than those with other evolutionary patterns (median OS, 71.2 months vs 39.7 months vs 35.2 months vs 25.5 months, for stable, differential, branching, and linear patterns, respectively; P = .001). A high degree of consistency and complementarity across QM-FISH and cFISH was observed in the evaluation of cytogenetic evolution patterns in MM. Survival after relapse was greater influenced by the presence of high-risk aberrations at relapse (hazard ratio = 2.07) rather than present at diagnosis (hazard ratio = 1.55). This study shows that QM-FISH is a valuable tool to elucidate the clonal architecture at the single-cell level. Clonal evolution pattern is of prognostic significance, highlighting the need for repeated cytogenetic evaluation in relapsed MM.

[A comparison and significance of plasma riboflavin levels in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma versus Linzhou healthy migrants in Changzhi of Shanxi].

OBJECTIVE: To study the relationship between plasma riboflavin levels and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. METHODS: We detected and compared plasma concentrations of riboflavin in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and immigrants of Linzhou living in Changzhi. Plasma riboflavin levels were quantified in 445 ESCC patients, 689 healthy control subjects and 347 immigrants of Linzhou living in Changzhi by using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: The plasma riboflavin levels in patients with ESCC were significantly lower than those in the healthy controls and immigrants of Linzhou living in Changzhi [(731.69 ± 330.67) µg/L vs (1090.43 ± 445.08) µg/L, (731.69 ± 330.67) µg/L vs (897.58 ± 177.78) µg/L, respectively, all P < 0.05], and the plasma riboflavin levels of the healthy controls were higher than those in the immigrants of Linzhou living in Changzhi (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Patients with ESCC have decreased plasma riboflavin levels as compared with the healthy controls and immigrants of Linzhou living in Changzhi, there exists a lack of riboflavin in ESCC patients, but the specific mechanism needs further study.

[Advances of Sirolimus in the Treatment of Patients with Autoimmune Cytopenia---Review].

Autoimmune cytopenia is a general term for all hemocytopenia diseases caused by humoral or cellular immunity abnormalities, and its common immune mechanism determines the importance of immunosuppressive therapy. Sirolimus, as an immunosuppressant against of mTOR, induces immune tolerance by adjusting Treg cells, which has application prospect in the treatment of refractory autoimmune cytopenia. This article reviews the mechanism, application, and possible adverse reactions of sirolimus in the treatment of idiopathic autoimmune cytopenia.

Deep-learning models for the detection and incidence prediction of chronic kidney disease and type 2 diabetes from retinal fundus images.

Regular screening for the early detection of common chronic diseases might benefit from the use of deep-learning approaches, particularly in resource-poor or remote settings. Here we show that deep-learning models can be used to identify chronic kidney disease and type 2 diabetes solely from fundus images or in combination with clinical metadata (age, sex, height, weight, body-mass index and blood pressure) with areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.85-0.93. The models were trained and validated with a total of 115,344 retinal fundus photographs from 57,672 patients and can also be used to predict estimated glomerulal filtration rates and blood-glucose levels, with mean absolute errors of 11.1-13.4 ml min-1 per 1.73 m2 and 0.65-1.1 mmol l-1, and to stratify patients according to disease-progression risk. We evaluated the generalizability of the models for the identification of chronic kidney disease and type 2 diabetes with population-based external validation cohorts and via a prospective study with fundus images captured with smartphones, and assessed the feasibility of predicting disease progression in a longitudinal cohort.

JAK2V617F/STAT5 signaling pathway promotes cell proliferation through activation of Pituitary Tumor Transforming Gene 1 expression.

Gain-of-function mutations of JAK2 play crucial roles in the development of myeloproliferative neoplasms; however, the underlying downstream events of this activated signaling pathway are not fully understood. Our experiment was designed and performed to address one aspect of this issue. Here we report that AG490, a potent JAK2V617F kinase inhibitor, effectively inhibits the proliferation of HEL cells. Interestingly, AG490 also decreases the expression of PTTG1, a possible target gene of the aberrant signaling pathway, in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Furthermore, the promoter activity analyses reveal that the inhibition of the PTTG1 expression is affected at the transcriptional level. Thus, our results suggest that the JAK2V617F/STAT5 signaling pathway promotes cell proliferation through the transcriptional activation of PTTG1.

[Urine sediment combined with urine protein as a biomarker for renal injury].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether combination of urine sediment and urine protein can predict the renal pathological changes. METHODS: We prepared 146 specimens of routine fresh fasting morning urine. Sediment analysis was performed with phase-contrast microscopy and 24-hour urine protein was measured. Both urine protein and sediment data were integrated to form three urine analysis groups. Urine group I: proteinuria, hematuira, urine white blood cells, red/white cell casts. Urine group II: proteinuria, few cell hyaline/fine granular casts. Urine group III: minor proteinuira, epithelial cells of tubule, granular/cell casts. The renal pathological lesions were predicted before and then confirmed by renal biopsy. Statistical analyses were performed using kappa test, chi-square test, and significance was accepted at P<0.05. RESULTS: After renal biopsy, we identified 95 cases of glomerular lesion with proliferation, 46 cases of glomerular disease without obvious proliferation and 5 cases of tubular interstitial lesion. According to the sediment analysis, only 67 cases (46%) could be attributed to urine group I. When combined with urine protein, we could pick out another 75 cases from urine groups I and II, and 8 cases from urine group III. The combined urine analysis could predict glomerular disease (77.7%). CONCLUSION: Clinically we can take advantage of the combined urine analysis to predict the pathological lesion of kidney disease, which is especially suitable for primary care doctor, who can not perform renal biopsy.

[Clinical significance of urine sediment spectrum analyses in crescentic glomerulonephritis].

OBJECTIVE: To explore whether the analyses of urine sediment spectrum contribute to the diagnosis of crescentic nephritis and whether special cells in urine could be a biomarker for the early stage crescentic nephritis. METHODS: Thirty-five patients diagnosed as crescentic nephritis with renal biopsy were recruited. The phase-contrast microscope was used to observe the early morning urine and offer comprehensive descriptions of urine sediment spectrum. And podocalyxin antibody was utilized to detect podocytes in urine and renal specimens by immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: Marked hematuria and casts were present in the urine of crescentic nephritis and "special cells" appeared in over 50% subjects. The detection rates of "special cells" were 75%, 41% and 0 respectively in early, middle and later stages of crescentic nephritis. Podocytes were identified in the urine of 8/9 subjects. CONCLUSIONS: The urine sediment spectrum contributes to the diagnosis of crescentic nephritis. And special cells in urine are helpful to gauge the stage of crescentic nephritis.

Cdc37 suppression induces plasma cell immaturation and bortezomib resistance in multiple myeloma via Xbp1s.

Multiple myeloma (MM) is the second most prevalent hematologic malignancy. Although the use of bortezomib (BTZ) significantly improves MM therapy, intrinsic and acquired drug resistance to BTZ remains a major clinical problem. In this study, we find that Cdc37, a key co-chaperone of Hsp90, is downregulated in relapsed MM patients, especially after BTZ treatment, suggesting a link between Cdc37 and BTZ resistance. Suppression of Cdc37 or inhibition of Cdc37/Hsp90 association induces plasma cell dedifferentiation, quiescence of MM cells, and BTZ resistance in MM. Furthermore, we discover that Cdc37 expression correlates positively with Xbp1s, a critical transcription factor for plasma cell differentiation in MM samples. Depletion/inhibition of Cdc37 downregulates Xbp1s, while overexpression of Xbp1s in MM cell lines partially rescues plasma immaturation and BTZ resistance. It is suggested that Xbp1s may act as a key downstream effector of Cdc37. Experiments with a mouse model also demonstrate that Cdc37 inhibition promotes plasma cell immaturation, confers BTZ resistance, and increases MM progression in vivo. Together, we identify a critical factor and a new signaling mechanism that regulate plasma cell immaturation and BTZ resistance in MM cells. Our findings may constitute a novel strategy that overcomes BTZ resistance in MM therapy.

[Effect of neoadjuvant chemotherapy on histologic grade and expression of biological markers in breast cancer].

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to investigate the changes of expression of estrogen receptors (ER), progesterone receptors (PR), Her-2, Ki-67 and histological grade after neoadjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer. METHODS: Sixty-seven patients with histopathalogically confirmed breast cancer by core needle biopsy received neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The effect of neoadjuvant chemotherapy was assessed according to the criteria of the Japanese Breast Cancer Society: non-effective (G1), mildly effective (G2), moderately effective (G3), markedly effective (G4) and completely effective (G5). All pathological slides were retrospectively reviewed. Immunohistochemical staining (EnVision method) was used to detect the expression of ER and PR, Her-2 and Ki-67. The pre- and post-neoadjuvant chemotherapy status of tumor histological grade, ER and PR, Her-2 and Ki-67 expression in the 49 cases were compared. RESULTS: The effect of neoadjuvant chemotherapy was assessed in 67 patients. There were 5 cases (7.5%) in G1, 19 in G2 (28.4%), 20 in G3 (29.9%), 17 in G4 (25.4%) and 6 in G5 (9.0%), respectively. PR positive rate was 71.4% after chemotherapy versus 91.8% before chemotherapy, with a statistically significant reduction (P = 0.021). However, the ER and Her-2 expression before and after neoadjuvant chemotherapy was stable. Of the patients with invasive ductal carcinoma, 28.6% had histological grade change after neoadjuvant chemotherapy, and 85.7% of patients decreased one grade. The proportion of histological grade change in the G1, G2, G3, G4 were 0, 5.9%, 41.2% and 54.5%, respectively (P = 0.013). The average rate of Ki-67 expression decreased from 28.3% pre-chemotherapy to 11.0% post-chemotherapy (P = 0.011). After the neoadjuvant chemotherapy, the Ki-67 expression rate decreased by > 10%, > 20%, > 30%, > 40% and > 50% in 3 groups (G1 and G2, group G3, group G4 and G5) showed a tendency to be increased, with a significant difference (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: PR expression in breast cancer decreases after neoadjuvant chemotherapy, while ER and Her-2 expressions remain stable. After neoadjuvant chemotherapy, the histological grade and proliferation index are decreased and correlated with the response to chemotherapy. Therefore, histological grade and proliferation index may be effective complementary factors in assessment of the effectiveness of neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

[Clinical Efficacy of Modified BU/CY as Conditioning Regimen Combined with Autologous Peripheral Blood Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation in Young Acute Myeloid Leukemia Patients with Low or Intermediate Risk].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the safety and efficacy of autologous peripheral blood hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (auto-PBHSCT) using modified BU/CY conditioning regimen for young AML patients of low and middle risk in the first complete remission (CR1). METHODS: Ten young AML patients of low and middle risk who did not want to accept allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation（allo-HSCT）and underwent auto-PBHSCT in CR1 during May 2013 to December 2016 were retrospectively analyzed. From 3 months after auto-PBHSCT, the maintenance therapy with interleukin-2 (IL-2) or IL-2 combined with histamine dihydrochloride was performed for these patients in the next 18 months. The side effects of the conditioning regimen, hematopoietic recovery time, transplant-related mortality (TRM) within 100 days and 1 year after auto-PBHSCT, relapse rate, leukemia-free survival (LFS) rate at 2 years and 3 years, overall survival (OS) were evaluated at 3 years and 4 years. RESULTS: Gastrointestinal side effects were the major non-hematologic toxicity reaction, among which, 7 cases relatively mild and 3 cases displayed moderate, just one case suffered from severe reaction. In 4 cases, the mild liver damage occurred, but no hemorrhagic cystitis occurred. All the patients experienced different kinds of infection, including 5 cases of bloodstream infection, 2 cases of gastrointestinal infection, 3 cases of crissum infection and 2 cases of oral infection. The myeloablative effect occurred in all ten patients. The median times for absolute neutrophil count (ANC)<0.5×109/L and for platelet count <20.0×109/L were 1.5 (0-3) days and 3 (2-5) days after transplantation, respectively. The patients achieved ANC>0.5×109/L at 10 to 19 days, median was 13 days after auto-PBHSCT. The patients achieved platelet count >20×109/L at 10 to 72 days; median was 32 days after auto-PBHSCT. The TRM within 100 days and 1 year after transplantation was 0. The relapse occurred in 2 cases at 6 and 14 months after auto-PBHSCT raspectively. The median follow-up time was 48.1 months, and the median survival time was 54.7 months after transplantation. The 2-year and 3-year LFS were 100% (10 cases) and 80% (8 cases), respectively. The 3-year and 4-year OS were 80% (8 cases) and 70% (7 cases), respectively. CONCLUSION: Modified BU/CY as conditioning regimen for auto-PBHSCT can achieve the myeloablative effect without raising TRM and obtain good LFS and OS. As for young AML patients without high risk, it is a valuable therapeutic option, especially for those lacking the chance of allo-HSCT.

Secretory status of monoclonal immunoglobulin is related to the outcome of patients with myeloma: a retrospective study.

The treatment of multiple myeloma (MM) with proteasome inhibitor (PI) bortezomib has significantly improved the survival of patients with MM. The 26S proteasome inhibitor targets the unfolded protein response (UPR) by inhibiting proteasome degradation of ubiquitinated paraprotein, subsequently leading to the lethal accumulation of paraprotein within the endoplasmic reticulum. According to secretory status of monoclonal immunoglobulin, newly diagnosed MM (NDMM) is divided into measurable and unmeasurable disease, which includes oligosecretory, nonsecretory, and nonproducer myeloma. The present study analyzed the clinical characteristics of 822 patients with NDMM who had either measurable or unmeasurable diseases and received bortezomib- or thalidomide-based therapies. Our results showed that the median progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) of patients with MM was significantly longer in patients with measurable disease than those in oligosecretory, nonsecretory, and nonproducer MM (PFS: 27, 18, 19, and 2.0 months, respectively [P < .001]; OS: 51, 30, 22, and 2.0 months, respectively [P < .001]). Within the unmeasurable group, patients with nonproducer myeloma showed the shortest PFS and OS. Importantly, compared with thalidomide treatment, bortezomib significantly improved the PFS and OS of patients with MM with measurable disease (PFS: 25 and 33 months [P = .022], respectively; OS: 41 and 58 months [P < .001], respectively), but not those with unmeasurable disease (PFS: 18 and 16 months [P = .617], respectively; OS: 22 and 27 months [P = .743], respectively). Our results indicate that bortezomib-based therapy performed no better than thalidomide-based treatment in patients with unmeasurable MM. The results need to be confirmed in other patient cohorts, preferably in the context of a prospective trial.

Elevated neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio and monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio and decreased platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio are associated with poor prognosis in multiple myeloma.

Elevated inflammatory markers are associated with poor outcomes in various types of cancers; however, their clinical significance in multiple myeloma (MM) have seldom been explored. This study investigated the prognostic relevance of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio (MLR) in MM. Totally 559 MM patients were included in this study. NLR, PLR and MLR were calculated from whole blood counts prior to therapy. Kaplan-Meier curves and multivariate Cox proportional models were used for the evaluation of the survival. It has shown that newly diagnosed MM patients were characterized by high NLR and MLR. Elevated NLR and MLR and decreased PLR were associated with unfavorable clinicobiological features. Applying cut-offs of 4 (NLR), 100 (PLR) and 0.3 (MLR), elevated NLR, MLR and decreased PLR showed a negative impact on outcome. Importantly, elevated NLR and decreased PLR were independent prognostic factors for progression-free survival. Thus, elevated NLR and MLR, and decreased PLR predict poor clinical outcome in MM patients and may serve as the cost-effective and readily available prognostic biomarkers.