[Interest of Apremilast in idiopathic recurrent aphthous stomatitis: Review of two clinical cases]. / Intérêt de l'Aprémilast dans les stomatites aphteuses récurrentes idiopathiques : étude de deux cas cliniques.

INTRODUCTION: Apremilast is a phosphodiesterase 4 inhibitor used in psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis Recently, this treatment has received marketing authorization for severe and refractory oral aphthosis in Behçet's disease. Idiopathic recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS) outside of Behçet's disease is often difficult to treat and can affect patients' quality of life. CASE REPORTS: We report our experience with the use of apremilast in two 49-year-old patients with refractory oral aphthosis not related to Behçet's disease or another etiology. In both cases, a combination of apremilast with low-dose prednisone controlled the idiopathic RAS within a few weeks. CONCLUSION: Apremilast, which already has marketing authorization for Behçet's disease, also appears to be effective in RAS.

Treatment with Hizentra in patients with primary and secondary immunodeficiencies: a real-life, non-interventional trial.

BACKGROUND: Although Hizentra is indicated for immunoglobulin replacement therapy in patients with primary and secondary immunodeficiencies, phase III trials have focused on patients with primary immunodeficiencies. In this 9-month, real-life, prospective, non-interventional, longitudinal, multicenter study of patients with primary and secondary immunodeficiencies in France, treatment modalities (primary endpoint), efficacy, safety, tolerability, quality of life, and treatment satisfaction were evaluated using descriptive statistics. RESULTS: Starting in January 2012, 117 patients were enrolled (99 adults, 18 children). Secondary immunodeficiencies were present in 48.7 % of patients. At follow-up, injections were administered every 7 days in 92.2 % of patients. Nine patients (7.8 %) were taking Hizentra every 10-14 days. The median dose of Hizentra administered was 0.1 g/kg/injection. Fifty-six patients were administered doses <0.1 g/kg/injection and 13 patients were administered doses >0.2 g/kg/injection. Mean trough IgG titers were 9.0 ± 3.3 g/L (median 8.3 g/L). The mean yearly rate of infection was 1.2 ± 1.9. Mean scores on the Short Form-36 physical and mental component summaries were 46.3 ± 10.0 and 46.6 ± 9.3, respectively. Scores on the Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire for Medication ranged from 69.9 ± 19.9 to 88.3 ± 21.2 depending on the domain. Treatment with Hizentra was well tolerated. No single drug-related systemic reaction occurred in more than one patient and few local reactions were reported (n = 5). CONCLUSIONS: Under real-life conditions and in a cohort that included patients with primary and secondary immunodeficiencies, treatment with Hizentra was effective and well tolerated and patients were generally satisfied with the treatment.

Long-term outcome of anemic lower-risk myelodysplastic syndromes without 5q deletion refractory to or relapsing after erythropoiesis-stimulating agents.

A large proportion of lower-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) respond to erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESA), but most responses are transient. We updated a previously reported cohort of lower-risk MDS patients treated with ESA and analyzed outcomes after ESA failure. In 120 patients with primary resistance and 66 patients with relapse after an initial response to ESA, the 5-year cumulative incidence of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) after failure was 18.9% and 11.6%, respectively (P=0.20). Median overall survival (OS) after failure was 40.1 and 44.9 months (P=0.35), respectively. We further categorized patients as 'early failures' (including resistance and relapse after <6 months of response), or 'later failures' (that is, relapse after ≥6 months). The 5-year cumulative incidence of AML and median OS after failure in early and later failure were 21.6% and 9% (P=0.02) and 36.7 and 54.3 months (P=0.02), respectively. Early failure to ESA and a baseline diagnosis of refractory anemia with excess blasts (RAEB)-1 were independent prognostic factors for AML progression and, along with trisomy 8, for shorter OS. Median OS from treatment onset was 40, 90.7 and 65.8 months in early failure, later failure and no relapse, respectively (P=0.001). Lower-risk MDS with early failure to ESA have a relatively unfavorable outcome, and should be offered alternative treatments.