18F-FDG cerebellum/liver index as a prognostic factor for progression-free survival in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

OBJECTIVE: 18F-FDG PET/CT provides valuable informations regarding the prognosis of DLBCL. The aim of this study is to test a novel index based on cerebellar uptake to predict progression free survival in DLBCL patients. METHODS: Data from patients with de novo DLBCL between January 2011 and December 2018 were retrospectively collected and PFS was determined. The conventional PET parameters (SUVmax and total metabolic tumor volume) and the CLIP, corresponding to the ratio of the cerebellum SUVmax over the liver SUVmean, were extracted from baseline 18F-FDG PET. RESULTS: Ninety-five patients were included. When using a threshold of 3.24, CLIP was a significant predictor of PFS on univariate analysis (HR 3.4, p < 0.001) with different 5-year survival rates: 68% (CLIP ≥ 3.24) versus 32% (CLIP < 3.24). Multivariate analysis confirmed the prognostic value of CLIP, as it is one of the two factors remaining significant with ß2-microglobulin (HR 2.1 and 2.5 respectively, p = 0.04 and p = 0.03). A score associating ß2-microglobulin and CLIP allowed to separate the population into three groups of different outcome in terms of 5-year PFS: low risk (80%), intermediate risk (42%) and high risk (17%). CONCLUSIONS: The CLIP derived from pre-therapeutic 18F-FDG PET seems to be an interesting predictive marker of PFS in DLBCL treated by immunochemotherapy.

Efficacy of eculizumab in refractory life-threatening warm autoimmune hemolytic anemia associated with chronic myelomonocytic leukemia.

Eculizumab may be considered as an emergency therapeutic option in refractory life-threatening warm autoimmune hemolytic anemia especially if direct antiglobulin test is positive for both IgG and C3d and after failure of all conventional treatments.

Hypercalcemia at diagnosis of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma is not uncommon and is associated with high-risk features and a short diagnosis-to-treatment interval.

Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is an aggressive type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The prevalence of hypercalcemia in this neoplasm and its prognostic significance is unclear. We retrospectively evaluated the prevalence of hypercalcemia at diagnosis of DLBCL and explored associations of hypercalcemia with clinical factors and outcome. Outcome was assessed using event-free survival at 24 months (EFS24). A total of 305 patients (248 de novo DLBCL and 57 transformed indolent lymphomas) diagnosed between 2006 and 2018 in Reims were analyzed. The prevalence of calcemia >10.5 mg/dL at diagnosis of de novo DLBCL and transformed indolent lymphomas was 23% and 26%, respectively. Hypercalcemia in de novo DLBCL was strongly associated with high-risk features, especially with International Prognostic Index (IPI) components, but also with B symptoms, ß2-microglobulin, hemoglobin, and albumin levels. The diagnosis-to-treatment interval was significantly shorter for hypercalcemic patients (P = .001). These associations with adverse prognostic factors translated into lower rates of EFS24 (HR = 1.66; 95% CI, 1.08-2.54) and shorter PFS (P = .0059) and OS (P = .0003) for patients with lymphoma-related hypercalcemia but not independently of IPI parameters. These data suggest that hypercalcemia is rather a biomarker of the underlying biological aggressiveness of DLBCL.