Symptoms and health-related quality of life in patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma: a multicenter prospective cohort study.

OBJECTIVE: Existing cross-sectional observational studies indicate that patients with multiple myeloma experience negative physical and psychological symptoms and low health-related quality of life. The study aim was to determine symptom prevalence, health-related quality of life and symptoms associated with health-related quality of life in patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma. METHODS: This multicenter longitudinal cohort study was conducted in four hospitals in Japan. Patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma were asked to report their symptom intensity and health-related quality of life using validated questionnaires at three points: at diagnosis (T1), 1 month (T2) and 12 months after diagnosis (T3). Symptoms associated with health-related quality of life were explored using a mixed-effects model. RESULTS: A total of 106 patients completed the assessment at T1. The symptoms more than 30% of patients reported were pain, disturbed sleep and distress at T1, pain, dry mouth, disturbed sleep and fatigue at T2, fatigue, numbness of tingling and pain and numbness or tingling at T3. Pain and depression were significantly associated with health-related quality of life negatively. CONCLUSIONS: The finding suggests that more than 30% of multiple myeloma patients suffered from pain and various symptoms and they received suboptimal palliative care within a year after starting initial chemotherapy. Pain and depression should be the main targets of interventions to improve health-related quality of life in this population.

Low-dose fluconazole as a useful and safe prophylactic option in patients receiving allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

BACKGROUND: Invasive fungal infections (IFIs) represent a potentially fatal complication in patients who undergo allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) if the initiation of therapy is delayed. Some guidelines recommend antifungal prophylaxis or preemptive therapy for these patients depending on the risk of IFIs following allogeneic HSCT. This retrospective study aimed to identify the group of patients who safely undergo allogeneic HSCT with low-dose fluconazole (FLCZ) prophylaxis (100 mg/day). METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 107 patients who underwent their first allogeneic HSCT at Nagoya City University Hospital from January 1, 2010, to December 31, 2019. We analyzed the efficacy of low-dose FLCZ prophylaxis and investigated the relationship between major risk factors and antifungal prophylaxis failure (APF) within 100 days post-transplant. RESULTS: Of the 107 patients, 70 received low-dose FLCZ prophylaxis, showing a cumulative incidence of APF of 37.1% and a proven/probable IFI rate of 4.3%. There were no fungal infection-related deaths, including Aspergillus infections, in the FLCZ prophylaxis group. In a multivariable analysis, cord blood transplantation (CBT) (subdistribution hazard ratio (SHR), 3.55; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.44-8.77; p = 0.006) and abnormal findings on lung CT before transplantation (SHR, 2.24; 95% CI, 1.02-4.92; p = 0.044) were independent risk factors for APF in the FLCZ prophylaxis group. CONCLUSION: Low-dose FLCZ prophylaxis is a useful and safe option for patients receiving allogeneic HSCT, except in those undergoing CBT or having any fungal risk features including history of fungal infections, positive fungal markers, and abnormal findings on lung CT before transplantation.

Apocynin, an NADPH oxidase inhibitor, suppresses rat prostate carcinogenesis.

Recent evidence suggests that oxidative stress contributes to the pathogenesis of prostate cancer. The present study focused on the effect of apocynin, an inhibitor of NADPH oxidase, on prostate carcinogenesis using the transgenic rat for adenocarcinoma of prostate (TRAP) model. There were no toxic effects with apocynin treatment. The percentages and numbers of carcinomas in both the ventral and lateral prostate were significantly reduced by apocynin treatment, with dose dependence. Reduction of reactive oxygen species by apocynin was confirmed by immunohistochemistry of 8-OHdG and dihydroethidium staining. Positivity of Ki67 was significantly reduced by apocynin treatment, and downregulation of clusterin expression, as well as inactivation of the MEK-ERK1/2 pathway, was a feature of the apocynin treated groups. In human prostate cancer cell line LNCaP, apocynin also inhibited reactive oxygen species production and blocked cell growth by inducing G0/G1 arrest with downregulation of clusterin and cyclin D1. These data suggest that apocynin possesses chemopreventive potential against prostate cancer.

Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia in a Patient With Chronic Continuous Type of Crohn's Disease.

Chronic inflammation can induce leukemogenic mutations in hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). We report a case of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) in a patient with chronic continuous type of Crohn's disease. The patient had been diagnosed with Crohn's disease at the age of 28 years and had received conventional treatments with biologics, but not azathioprine. At the age of 51, he was diagnosed with APL with ider(17). Long-term exposure to chronic continuous inflammation from Crohn's disease might be a factor inducing genomic instability in HSCs, which lead to the subsequent development of APL. APL is a rare hematological manifestation that required attention in Crohn's disease patients.

Volunteer unrelated donor cell-derived acute myeloid leukemia with RUNX1-RUNX1T1.

A 15-year-old male was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia with t(6;9)(p23;q34), a chimeric DEK-NUP214 fusion gene. He underwent allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (allo-BMT) from an unrelated volunteer donor at first molecular remission. Approximately 5 years after allo-BMT, multiple bone marrow aspirations showed increased blasts to 63%, which were positive for myeloperoxidase, CD13, CD33, CD56, and CD34. Surprisingly, t(8;21)(q22;q22.1), a chimeric RUNX1-RUNX1T1 (not DEK-NUP214) fusion gene, was detected with full donor chimerism. To our best knowledge, this is the first case of a volunteer unrelated donor cell-derived acute myeloid leukemia harboring a chimeric RUNX1-RUNX1T1 fusion gene.