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Background: CPX‐351 is approved for the treatment of therapy related acute myeloid leukemia (t‐AML) and AML with myelodysplastic related changes (MRC‐AML). The benefits of this treatment over standard chemotherapy has not been addressed in well matched cohorts of real‐life patients. Methods: Retrospective analysis of AML patients treated with CPX‐351 as per routine practice. A propensity score matching (PSM) was used to compare their main outcomes with those observed in a matched cohort among 765 historical patients receiving intensive chemotherapy (IC), all of them reported to the PETHEMA epidemiologic registry. Results: Median age of 79 patients treated with CPX‐351 was 67 years old (interquartile range 62–71), 53 were MRC‐AML. The complete remission (CR) rate or CR without recovery (CRi) after 1 or 2 cycles of CPX‐351 was 52%, 60‐days mortality 18%, measurable residual disease <0.1% in 54% (12 out of 22) of them. Stem cell transplant (SCT) was performed in 27 patients (34%), median OS was 10.3 months, and 3‐year relapse incidence was 50%. Using PSM, we obtained two comparable cohorts treated with CPX‐351 (n = 52) or IC (n = 99), without significant differences in CR/CRi (60% vs. 54%) and median OS (10.3 months vs. 9.1 months), although more patients were bridged to SCT in the CPX‐351 group (35% vs. 12%). The results were confirmed when only 3 + 7 patients were included in the historical cohort. In multivariable analyses, SCT was associated with better OS (HR 0.33 95% CI: 0.18–0.59), p < 0.001. Conclusion: Larger post‐authorization studies may provide evidence of the clinical benefits of CPX‐351 for AML in the real‐life setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High Grade B Cell Lymphoma, NOS, and High Grade B Cell Lymphoma with Dual Hit or Triple Hit have been recently recategorized in the 2016 revision of the WHO classification of lymphoid neoplasms. In this study we have characterized the genetic, histopathological, and clinical features of a series of this type of lymphoid neoplasia (17 HGBCL NOS and 53 HGBCL DH/TH). HGBCL NOS showed better response to first line treatment than HGBCL with DH/TH but no significant differences in PFS or OS were found between the two categories. Survival analysis in the whole cohort of cases found that only the presence of BCL2 translocation was significantly associated with PFS. Other clinical features such as IPI, LDH or stage were equivalent in both categories. Furthermore, both high grade and DLBCL morphological patterns showed equivalent PFS and OS in this set of High grade BCL NOS/DH/TH. BCL2 translocation in High Grade B Cell Lymphoma NOS and High Grade B Cell Lymphoma with DH/TH is associated with reduced progression free survival. Both high grade and DLBCL morphological patterns showed equivalent outcome regarding PFS and OS in HGBCL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), 3 kbp upstream of the IL28B gene (rs12979860; C/T), has been shown to influence the dynamics of cytomegalovirus (CMV) replication in allogeneic stem cell transplant recipients (Allo-SCT). We investigated whether this SNP had any effect on the dynamics of CMV-specific T-cell immunity in these patients. CMV pp65/IE-1 IFN-γ CD8+ and CD4+ T cells were enumerated by flow cytometry in 85 patients with no prior CMV DNAemia (group A) and in 57 after the onset of CMV DNAemia (group B). Donor IL28B genotype was determined by real-time PCR and plasma levels of IL-28B were quantitated by ELISA. CMV-specific T-cell counts and plasma IL-28B levels in patients in group A were not significantly different among the IL28B genotype groups. Patients harboring the donor IL28B T/T genotype appeared to expand CMV-specific IFN-γ CD8+ cells to a higher level in response to viral replication than their C/T and C/C counterparts. Fewer patients in the T/T group received pre-emptive antiviral therapy ( P = 0.05). Overall, a significant inverse correlation was observed between median IL-28B levels measured prior to the CMV DNAemia onset and the level of CMV-specific CD8+ T cells enumerated after detection of CMV DNAemia (σ = −0.471; P = 0.013). In summary, the data suggested that the protective effect attributed to the rs12979860 SNP minor T allele could be mediated, at least in part, by eliciting robust CMV-specific T-cell responses. J. Med. Virol. 89:685-695, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the use of drugs with both antiproliferative and immune effects in the treatment of patients with follicular lymphoma (FL). It mentions the role of drugs to improve disease control and the treatment of backbone; and also highlights the treatment of FL patients, combined with dose-dense cyclophosphamide-vincristine-prednisone.

The coexistence of skin-limited Langerhans cell histiocytosis ( LCH) and Rosai-Dorfman disease ( RDD) is an exceptional finding. The association of lymphomas and histiocytosis is also infrequent. We report the case of a 68-year-old man which presented an exceptional association of cutaneous LCH and RDD and splenic marginal zone lymphoma. He was stable for few years. Suddenly, the patient was admitted into Hematology Department with a remarkable enlargement of spleen and liver without enlargement of lymphadenopathies or skin lesions flare. He died 24 h later despite treatment with systemic chemotherapy combined with prednisone. Pre-mortem biopsy showed infiltration with histiocytic sarcoma. We think that a transdifferentiation phenomenon could explain our case, although we could not show a clonal relationship between the cutaneous and the liver diseases. We also want to pay attention to the fact that a fast transformation to a more aggressive disease can occur long time after the presentation of the first lesion, a problem that stresses the importance of performing a close and permanent follow-up of these patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]