AAT: does it have a place in acute leukemia?

Aim: In this study, the authors aimed to investigate the change of AAT, its effect on the response to induction and its effects on the treatment process in acute myeloid leukemia and acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients. Materials & methods: This study included 94 patients who were hospitalized and followed up in Istanbul Training and Research Hospital, Hematology Clinic, between October 2019 and December 2021. Results: Patients with a complete response had higher serum AAT levels than those with a non-complete response (p < 0.05). The mean serum AAT level was found to be significantly higher in patients without Gram-positive growth than in patients with Gram-positive growth. Conclusion: It can be thought that AAT can play a role during the course of acute leukemia management.

The outcome of COVID-19 in patients with hematological malignancy.

In this study, we aim to report the outcomes for COVID-19 in patients with hematological malignancy in Turkey. Data from laboratory-confirmed 188 897 COVID-19 patients diagnosed between 11 March 2020 and 22 June 2020 included in the Republic of Turkey, Ministry of Health database were analyzed retrospectively. All COVID-19 patients with hematological malignancy (n = 740) were included in the study and an age, sex, and comorbidity-matched cohort of COVID-19 patients without cancer (n = 740) at a 1:1 ratio was used for comparison. Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (30.1%), myelodysplastic syndrome (19.7%), myeloproliferative neoplasm (15.7%) were the most common hematological malignancies. The rates of severe and critical disease were significantly higher in patients with hematological malignancy compared with patients without cancer (P = .001). The rates of hospital and intensive care unit (ICU) admission were higher in patients with hematological malignancy compared with the patients without cancer (P = .023, P = .001, respectively). The length of hospital stay and ICU stay was similar between groups (P = .7, P = .3, retrospectively). The rate of mechanical ventilation (MV) support was higher in patients with hematological malignancy compared with the control group (P = .001). The case fatality rate was 13.8% in patients with hematological malignancy, and it was 6.8% in the control group (P = .001). This study reveals that there is an increased risk of COVID-19-related serious events (ICU admission, MV support, or death) in patients with hematological malignancy compared with COVID-19 patients without cancer and confirms the high vulnerability of patients with hematological malignancy in the current pandemic.

Two rare diagnoses during chronic lymphocytic leukaemia follow-up: Kaposi's sarcoma and Merkel cell carcinoma.

Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia often has a clinical presentation characterised by increased neoplastic lymphocytes which are mostly mature looking due to B lymphocytes. Increased secondary cancer prevalence has been detected among patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia diagnosis. In this report, we present three chronic lymphocytic leukaemia patients who developed secondary rare cancers during their follow-up at our clinic. Case 1: A 54-year-old female patient was diagnosed with stage I chronic lymphocytic leukaemia in 2003 and was diagnosed with Merkel cell carcinoma in February 2013. Case 2: A 66-year-old male patient was diagnosed with stage II chronic lymphocytic leukaemia in 2009 and was diagnosed with Kaposi's sarcoma in March 2013. Case 3: A 77-year-old male patient was diagnosed with stage I chronic lymphocytic leukaemia in 2006 and was diagnosed with Kaposi's sarcoma in 2011. In conclusion, secondary cancers are observed in patients diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. Therefore, follow-up of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia requires additional attention in this context.