Role of upfront autologous transplant for peripheral T-cell lymphoma patients achieving a complete remission with first-line therapy: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

There is currently no consensus on the role of upfront autologous transplantation (ASCT) for patients with peripheral T-cell lymphomas (PTCL), especially in patients achieving first complete remission (CR1) following chemotherapy, and data in the literature is conflicting. A systematic review and meta-analysis was performed to address this question. We searched key databases from January 2000 to February 2022. Six prospective and eleven retrospective studies were included among 2959 unique records. Median follow up in these studies ranged from 22 to 94 months. There was a trend towards benefit in PFS (HR = 0.80, 95% CI 0.62-1.05, p = 0.11) and OS (HR = 0.79, 95% CI 0.57-1.09, p = 0.15) in the ASCT compared to chemotherapy only group. Importantly, in transplant eligible patients in CR1, a significant benefit was demonstrated in both OS (HR = 0.59, 95% CI 0.36-0.95, p = 0.03) and PFS (HR = 0.61, 95% CI 0.47-0.81, p = 0.0004) in the ASCT group. Amongst the nodal PTCL subgroups, ASCT showed a significant PFS benefit for the AITL subgroup (HR = 0.43, 95% CI 0.20-0.94, p < 0.03) but not PTCL-NOS or ALK-ve ALCL subgroups. Our findings support upfront ASCT for transplant eligible PTCL patients achieving CR1 post chemotherapy. In particular, patients with AITL exhibited a significantly better PFS after upfront ASCT.

Early relapse post autologous transplant is a stronger predictor of survival compared with pretreatment patient factors in the novel agent era: analysis of the Singapore Multiple Myeloma Working Group.

The clinical outcome of multiple myeloma is heterogeneous. Both the depth of response to induction and transplant as well as early relapse within a year are correlated with survival, but it is unclear which factor is most relevant in Southeast Asian patients with multiple myeloma. We retrospectively analyzed outcomes of 215 patients who were treated with upfront autologous transplant in Singapore between 2000 and 2014. In patients who received novel agent (NA)-based induction, achieving only partial response (PR) post-induction was associated with poorer OS (HR 1.95, P=0.047) and PFS (HR 2.9, P<0.001), while achieving only PR post-transplant was strongly correlated with both OS (HR 3.3, P=0.001) and PFS (HR 7.6, P<0.001), compared with patients who achieved very good partial response (VGPR) or better. Early relapse was detected in 18% of all patients, although nearly half had initially achieved VGPR or better post-transplant. Early relapse after NA-based induction led to significantly shorter OS (median 22 months vs not reached, P<0.001), and was strongly associated with OS (HR 13.7, P<0.001). The impact of suboptimal post-transplant response and early relapse on survival may be more important than pretransplant factors, such as International Staging System or cytogenetics, and should be considered in risk stratification systems to rationalize therapy.

Mobitz type I atrio-ventricular block in dengue myocarditis, requiring temporary pacing.

We present a case of dengue myocarditis related Mobitz type I atrio-ventricular (A-V) block. To our knowledge, this is the first report of such a patient requiring pacing. An early response to methylprednisolone suggests the possibility of a therapeutic role for steroids in these patients.

Pharmacological inhibitors of NF-kappaB accelerate apoptosis in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia cells.

Nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) is a transcription factor that plays a critical role in the inappropriate survival of various types of malignant cells. Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) is the most common B-cell malignancy in the Western world. Although overexpression and regulation of NF-kappaB has been described in CLL, its function remains unclear. Exposure of CLL cells to BAY117082 or Kamebakaurin, potent pharmacological inhibitors of the NF-kappaB pathway, accelerated apoptosis in approximately 70% of cases. Sensitivity to NF-kappaB pathway inhibitors was not related to the prognostic markers VH status, CD38 or Zap70 expression, or to the levels of nuclear NF-kappaB. Normal peripheral B cells were resistant to the apoptosis-inducing effects of these compounds. Cell death induced by the inhibitors was associated with activation of caspase-9 and -3, and loss of mitochondrial membrane polarization, but did not involve changes in the expression of Bcl-2 or Mcl-1. Inhibitors caused an increase in c-jun NH2-terminal kinase activity in CLL, but this did not appear to be important for apoptosis. Microarray analysis identified some potential novel NF-kappaB target genes, including interleukin-16- and the Bcl-2- related survival protein Bcl-w. These results demonstrate that a substantial proportion of CLL are dependent on NF-kappaB for enhanced survival and suggest that inhibition of NF-kappaB may have therapeutic potential.

1.6 A structure of semisynthetic ribonuclease crystallized from aqueous ethanol. Comparison with crystals from salt solutions and with ribonuclease A from aqueous alcohol solutions.

The non-covalent combination of residues 1-118 of RNase A with a synthetic 14-residue peptide containing residues 111-124 of the molecule forms a highly active semisynthetic enzyme, RNase 1-118:111-124. With this enzyme, the roles played by the six C-terminal residues in generating the catalytic efficiency and substrate specificity of RNase can be studied using chemically synthesized analogs. The structure of RNase 1-118:111-124 from 43% aqueous ethanol has been determined using molecular-replacement methods and refined to a crystallographic R-factor of 0.166 for all observed reflections in the range 7.0-1.6 A (Protein Data Bank file ISSC). The structure is compared with the 2.0 A structure of RNase A from 43% aqueous 2-methyl-2-propanol and with the 1.8 A structure of the semisynthetic enzyme obtained from crystals grown in concentrated salt solution. The structure of RNase 1-118:111-124 from aqueous ethanol is virtually identical to that of RNase A from aqueous 2-methyl-2-propanol. Half of the crystallographically bound water molecules are not coincident, however. The structure is somewhat less similar to that of RNase 1-118:111-124 from salt solutions, with a major difference being the positioning of active-site residue His119.