Diffuse large B cell lymphoma characteristics and outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic in two tertiary centers - an Israeli/ Italian study.

The COVID-19 pandemic posed a major challenge in cancer care worldwide which might have an impact on the management of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). We conducted a retrospective study comparing characteristics, management, and outcomes of DLBCL patients diagnosed during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic (1/3/2020-28/2/2021) to those diagnosed in the previous year (1/3/2019-28/2/2020) in two tertiary centers in Italy and Israel. 182 patients were diagnosed with DLBCL during the study period. More patients were diagnosed during the pandemic compared to the year before: 60 vs. 29 and 54 vs. 39 in Italy and in Israel, respectively. Trends towards older age and higher transformation rates were shown during the pandemic. The interval between the initiation of symptoms and diagnosis was longer during the pandemic. Five and four patients were diagnosed with COVID-19 during treatment in Italy and in Israel, respectively. there was no difference in dose density and intensity of treatment, before and during the pandemic. The median follow-up during and before the pandemic was 15.2 and 25.5 months, respectively. Progression-free survival (PFS) was slightly shorter during the pandemic compared to the year before (64.9% vs. 70.6%; p = 0.0499). In multivariate analysis, older age and transformed disease were independently related to PFS, while diagnosis of DLBCL during the pandemic was not. Despite the challenges caused by COVID-19 pandemic, the management of DLBCL patients remained unchanged including dose density and intensity. Nevertheless, a shorter PFS during the outbreak might be attributed to differences in patients' characteristics.

Diarrheal Morbidity During Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation: The Diagnostic Yield of Stool Cultures.

INTRODUCTION: Diarrhea affects a significant proportion of patients undergoing hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). We explored the diagnostic yield of stool cultures for enteric pathogens among patients undergoing HCT. METHODS: This is a single-center, retrospective study. Between 5/2007 and 4/2020, consecutive patients who underwent HCT were included if inpatient bacterial stool cultures were collected. Patient characteristics, results, and timing of stool cultures obtained during hospitalization were collected. RESULTS: A total of 1072 individuals underwent autologous (n = 603) and allogeneic (n = 469) HCT. Overall, 947 stool culture samples were obtained from 561 (52%) patients with diarrheal illness during hospitalization for HCT. Most (99%) samples were obtained beyond 3 days of admission, mainly (77%) during neutropenia. Overall, only four (0.42%) (autologous, n = 3; allogeneic, n = 1) patients had a positive stool culture and in all cases Campylobacter spp. were the pathogens identified. The number of stool cultures needed-to-test to diagnose one case of bacterial infection was 237. The cost of diagnosing one case of bacterial diarrhea was US $8770. Patients with a positive stool culture did not have discerning characteristics. CONCLUSIONS: In our experience, the yield of stool cultures for enteropathogens in patients undergoing HCT is extremely low and thus should be avoided in most cases.

Characterization of gastrulation-stage progenitor cells and their inhibitory crosstalk in human embryoid bodies.

Human embryoid bodies (HEBs) are cell aggregates that are produced during the course of embryonic stem cell differentiation in suspension. Mature HEBs have been shown to contain derivatives of the three embryonic germ layers. In this study, using a combination of laser capture microscopy followed by DNA microarray analysis and cell sorting, we demonstrate that early HEBs are composed of three major cell populations. These cell populations can be defined by the expression of specific cell markers, namely: (i) OCT4(+), REX1(-); (ii) NCAD(+), OCT4(-); and (iii) EPOR(+), OCT4(-). By analyzing gene expression in embryonic tissues, these cell populations could respectively be assigned to the embryonic ectoderm, mesendoderm, and extraembryonic endoderm lineages. We show that the extraembryonic endoderm, which selectively expresses platelet-derived growth factor B (PDGF-B), negatively affects the mesendoderm lineage, which selectively expresses the receptor PDGFRA. Our analysis suggests that early HEBs are spatially patterned and that cell differentiation is governed by interactions between the different cell types.