COVID-19 control during a humanitarian crisis; the need for emergency response at the Thai-Myanmar border as an alternative channel.

Following the coup in Myanmar, humanitarian assistance, including coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) control, must be implemented on the Thai-Myanmar border in the framework of international cooperation. The actual number of refugees was expected to increase in the Karen state at the end of March 2021, and they are at risk of contracting COVID-19 as they live in overcrowded conditions without access to basic sanitation. The global community has been hesitant to provide direct support because of fearing that such support would benefit the military. To reach this most vulnerable population, further strengthening of support through the Thai-Myanmar border as an alternative channel that was used before Myanmar's democratic transition in 2011 is necessary.

Retrospective Analysis of 20 Patients with DLBCL Who Received MCVAC Followed by Autologous Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Transplantation.

Autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation(auto-PBSCT)combined with high-dose chemotherapy has been considered as the standard therapy for relapsed or induction therapy-refractory aggressive lymphomas sensitive to chemotherapy. While various regimens have been applied as the conditioning,none has yet been established as the standard. We have begun to employ high-dose ranimustine,cytarabine,etoposide and cyclophosphamide(MCVAC)regimen. The present study was undertaken to review the efficacy and safety of MCVAC. Regimen: We carried out a retrospective analysis of 20 patients diagnosed as diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. The median follow-up duration of 20 patients was 13.05 months(range, 0.57-49.5 months). The 4-year OS and PFS were 57.8% and 30.2%,respectively. Relapse was the most frequent cause of treatment failure(n=7). The major toxicities were anorexia/nausea(95%),diarrhea (75%),hypokalemia (70%). One patient died of hepatic veno-occlusive disease(VOD). The serious adverse events included hypokalemia,arrhythmia,cerebral hemorrhage,and heart failure(1 case[5%]each). There was 1 case of a late-onset adverse event: therapy-related myelo- dysplastic syndrome/acute myeloblastic leukemia(MDS/AML). MCVAC regimen was concluded as effective and well-toler- ated. However,we should carefully monitored for the possible development of VOD and MDS/AML. Further follow-up is needed to evaluate the long-term efficacy and safety.

Vitamin B6 deficiency is prevalent in primary and secondary myelofibrosis patients.

Vitamin B6 (VB6) deficiency contributes to oncogenesis and tumor progression in certain cancers, and is prevalent in cancer patients in general. VB6 is also an essential element of heme synthesis, and deficiency can lead to anemia. Primary myelofibrosis (PMF) and secondary myelofibrosis (sMF) are myeloproliferative neoplasms often presenting with anemia along with other cytopenias. We performed a prospective study to determine whether PMF and sMF patients suffer from VB6 deficiency, and whether VB6-deficient patients show improvement of anemias with VB6 supplementation. Twelve PMF patients and 11 sMF patients were analyzed. A total of 16 of 23 patients (69.6%) were found to have VB6 deficiency, but VB6 supplementation with pyridoxal phosphate hydrate did not elevate hemoglobin levels in deficient patients. None of the patients presented with vitamin B12, iron, or copper deficiencies. Four patients showed serum folate levels below the lower limit of normal and eight patients showed serum zinc levels below the lower limit of normal; however, these deficiencies were marginal and unlikely to contribute to anemia. Compared to VB6-sufficient patients, VB6-deficient patients showed significantly lower serum folate levels and higher serum copper levels. Studies elucidating the relationship of VB6 deficiency and etiology of PMF/sMF are warranted.

Utility of immunohistochemistry with an antibody against MYC at the initial diagnosis of follicular lymphoma, grade 3A, for predicting a more aggressive clinical course: a case report and review of the literature.

Follicular lymphoma (FL) is the most common indolent lymphoma, and associated with the chromosomal translocation t(14;18)(q32;q21). While, FL harboring both BCL2 and MYC translocation at diagnosis is very rare. The evaluation of MYC expression in typical FL at presentation using southern blot, G-banded karyotyping or fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analyses has been described so far. However, there are no reports about the use of immunohistochemistry (IHC) to evaluate MYC protein expression in FL at presentation. Here, we present a FL patient who transformed to a B-cell lymphoma, unclassifiable, with features intermediate between diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and Burkitt's lymphoma, accompanied by concurrent BCL2, BCL6, and MYC translocations; i.e., triple-hit lymphoma. Paraffin-embedded tissue section-FISH analysis demonstrated that the FL was negative for MYC, but MYC protein expression was subsequently detected in the lymph node specimen obtained at the initial diagnosis using IHC. This case revealed aggressive clinical course and central nervous system involvement. In the literature concerning MYC positive FL five out of 8 patients were dead within 24 months. The detection of MYC protein expression in FL using IHC might be useful to predict more aggressive clinical course.

Rituximab plus a CHOP-like regimen, central nervous system prophylaxis, and contralateral testicular irradiation for localized primary testicular diffuse large B-cell lymphoma lead to prolonged progression-free survival.

We retrospectively evaluated the clinical features, management, and survival of 12 patients (age 51-84 years) with localized primary testicular diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (PTL). All 12 PTL patients underwent orchiectomy. Seven of the 12 patients were treated with strategy A, which consisted of at least six cycles of rituximab (R) plus a CHOP-like regimen, central nervous system (CNS) prophylaxis involving intrathecal chemotherapy (IT) and/or high-dose intravenous methotrexate, and contralateral scrotal irradiation (cRT). The other five patients were treated with strategy B, which included three regimens: orchiectomy alone, orchiectomy plus cRT and IT, and orchiectomy plus 3-4 cycles of R-CHOP plus cRT with or without IT. The median follow-up period was 48 months (range 19-123 months). The 4-year progression-free survival (PFS) rate for the seven patients treated with strategy A was 85.7 %, whereas that for the five patients treated with strategy B was 20 %. The patients treated with strategy A exhibited a significantly higher 4-year PFS rate than those treated with strategy B (P = 0.017). These results confirmed that the administration of a sufficient number of cycles of an R-containing chemotherapy regimen plus cRT plus CNS prophylaxis should be considered as a treatment for localized PTL.

"Slow VISA," a novel phenotype of vancomycin resistance, found in vitro in heterogeneous vancomycin-intermediate Staphylococcus aureus strain Mu3.

Heterogeneous vancomycin-intermediate Staphylococcus aureus (hVISA) clinical strain Mu3 spontaneously generates VISA strains at an extremely high frequency (≥1×10(-6)). The generated VISA strains usually grow more slowly than does the parent hVISA strain, but they form colonies on vancomycin-containing agar plates before 48 h of incubation. However, we noticed a curious group of VISA strains, designated "slow VISA" (sVISA), whose colonies appear only after 72 h of incubation. They have extremely prolonged doubling times but have vancomycin MICs of 8 to ∼24 mg/liter when determined after 72 to ∼144 h of incubation. We established strain Mu3-6R-P (6R-P), which has a vancomycin MIC of 16 mg/liter (at 72 h), as a representative sVISA strain. Its cell wall was thickened and autolytic activity was decreased compared to the respective qualities of the parent hVISA strain Mu3. Whole-genome sequencing of 6R-P revealed only one mutation, encoded by rpoB (R512P), which replaced the 512th arginine of the RNA polymerase ß-subunit with proline. Its VISA phenotype was unstable, and the strain frequently reverted to hVISA with concomitant losses of pinpoint colony morphology and cell wall thickness and reduced autolytic activity. Sequencing of the rpoB genes of the phenotypic revertant strains revealed mutations affecting the 512th codon, where the proline of 6R-P was replaced with leucine, serine, or histidine. Slow VISA generated in the tissues of an infected patient serves as a temporary shelter for hVISA to survive vancomycin therapy. The sVISA strain spontaneously returns to hVISA when the threat of vancomycin is lifted. The rpoB(R512P) mutation may be regarded as a regulatory mutation that switches the reversible phenotype of sVISA on and off.

Attainment of a stringent complete response in multiple myeloma with thalidomide monotherapy.

Treatment of patients with multiple myeloma (MM) has drastically changed with the introduction of novel agents such as thalidomide, lenalidomide, and bortezomib, but treatment outcome of elderly patients has remained dismal mainly due to toxicities. We report an 82-year-old MM patient attaining stringent complete response (sCR) at 12 months with a daily dose of 100 mg of thalidomide monotherapy. She remains on thalidomide monotherapy and presently maintains a normalized serum free light chain ratio at 18 months. This is the first case of MM achieving sCR with thalidomide monotherapy, and shows that single-agent thalidomide can be effective and concomitant use of dexamethasone may not be necessary in frail elderly patients.

T/NK cell type chronic active Epstein-Barr virus disease in adults: an underlying condition for Epstein-Barr virus-associated T/NK-cell lymphoma.

A chronic infectious mononucleosis-like illness caused by Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is called 'chronic active EBV disease', which is defined as an EBV-associated lymphoproliferative disease. This lymphoproliferative disease is rare and predominantly occurs in Japanese children. Between 1998 and 2010, seven adult-onset cases (aged 20-45 years, median 39 years) were identified, which initially presented with inflammatory diseases, including hepatitis, interstitial pneumonitis, uveitis, nephritis and hypersensitivity to mosquito bites. They showed an EBV viral load in the peripheral blood and evidence of EBV infection of T or natural killer (NK) cells. Five cases (71.4%) developed EBV-positive T/NK-cell lymphoma/leukaemia at a median of 5 years (range 1-7 years) after the diagnosis. Although l-asparaginase-containing chemotherapy was effective for the lymphomas, only allogeneic haematopoietic cell transplantation eradicated EBV-infected cells. This observation indicates that persistent EBV infection of T or NK cells defines a distinct disease entity, which provides an underlying condition for EBV-positive T/NK-cell lymphoma/leukaemia.

Chronic myelogenous leukemia with mild basophilia as the predominant manifestation at presentation.

Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) is a clonal hematological malignancy typically presenting with basophilia and massive proliferation of differentiating myeloid cells. We report an atypical case of CML in which mild basophilia was the sole manifestation at presentation, and the condition persisted for 27 months with no sign of progression. This case reconfirms the importance of basophilia as a clinical manifestation of CML, and BCR-ABL FISH analysis should always be applied to cases of basophilia, even when the basophilia is modest and no other features of CML are present.

Identification of Bcl-2/IgH fusion sequences using real-time PCR and chip-based microcapillary electrophoresis.

BACKGROUND: The determination of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification product sizes of the Bcl-2/IgH fusion gene from follicular lymphoma (FL) provides evidence of clonal identity. METHODS: The present study describes detection of Bcl-2/IgH fusion gene clonality utilizing a small, simple microcapillary electrophoretic chip combined with a real-time PCR method. RESULTS: The microcapillary electrophoretic chip system effectively detects size differences among the Bcl-2/IgH fusion gene amplification products of FL from patient samples; something that is not possible using traditional gel electrophoresis. We also describe the potential of this system to utilize formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue samples sectioned on charged slides. CONCLUSIONS: The simple detection of Bcl-2/IgH fusion gene clonality using a microcapillary electrophoretic chip provides reliable information for monitoring minimal residual disease of FL, and can be an effective tool for use in clinical laboratories.

Successful treatment of extramedullary tumors with low-dose thalidomide in patients with multiple myeloma.

Extramedullary tumor (EMT) is a poor prognostic factor of multiple myeloma (MM). The majority of patients report poor efficacy of thalidomide in MM with EMT, and bortezomib is the preferred choice of treatment. We report two cases of MM with EMTs in which thalidomide was highly beneficial. Case 1 has been in remission for ten months with 100 mg every other day of thalidomide monotherapy, which is the lowest dose to be reported in a successfully treated case of MM with EMT. Case 2 eventually became refractory, but low dose thalidomide gave excellent disease control over a period of eleven weeks, despite the EMT being in a highly aggravated state. Some reports have speculated that EMT cases with preceding bone marrow transplantation (BMT) are an exception and have a good response to thalidomide, but the present two cases have no history of BMT. In conclusion, low dose thalidomide can be effective in MM with EMT and should be considered as a treatment option, especially in the elderly.