Search

Lymphomatous involvement of the ocular adnexal region (OAR) is generally rare; however, it constitutes the most common ocular malignancy. Most cases of ocular adnexal lymphomas are extra nodal marginal zone B cell lymphomas. Mantle cell lymphoma involvement (MCL) of the OAR is a less common presentation compared with other lymphomas and it has been reported anecdotally. Studies have suggested an association of OAR involvement with poor prognosis. Here, we report the case of a 61 year old man who started experiencing conjunctival erythema which was followed by development of bilateral proptosis. The diagnosis of Stage IV Mantle cell lymphoma with OAR involvement was confirmed 5 months after patient onset of symptomatology. He underwent treatment with systemic chemotherapy, which was followed by high-dose chemotherapy and autologous hematopoietic cell transplant. He is currently day +100 from his transplant and is in complete remission. A review of the literature regarding ocular involvement of MCL is also summarized.

We report a case of a 26-year-old male who was diagnosed with metastatic desmoplastic small round cell tumor initially treated with systemic chemotherapy followed by tumor debulking and hyperthermic intra-peritoneal chemotherapy. The patient was in complete remission by clinical and imaging criteria for 11 months, until he developed bi-lobar hepatic disease, which was successfully treated with selective internal radiation therapy by Yttrium-90. The patient demonstrated liver-specific complete response on follow-up imaging obtained 18 months after the procedure.

Highlights • A cervical desmoid tumor could be successfully controlled with proton therapy. • Desmoid tumors commonly occur in the limbs and trunk, rarely in the neck. • Proton beam therapy was selected to reduce radiation related adverse events., Desmoid tumors are benign, but may have a locally invasive tendency that commonly results in local recurrence. Most occur on the body trunk or extremities, whereas a head and neck desmoid tumor is relatively rare. The efficacy of radiotherapy has been suggested and 50–60 Gy is used for unresectable or recurrent desmoid tumors, but there are few reports of use of particle beam therapy. However, since this tumor occurs more often in younger patients compared to malignant tumors and the prognosis is favorable, there may be an advantage of this therapy. We treated a male patient with a head and neck recurrent desmoid tumor with proton beam therapy (PBT) at a dose of 60 Gy (RBE). This patient underwent surgical resection as initial treatment, but the tumor recurred only six months after surgery, and resection was performed again. After PBT, the tumor gradually shrank and complete remission has been achieved for 10 years without any severe late toxicity. Here, we report the details of this case, with a review of the literature. We suggest that PBT may reduce the incidence of second malignant tumors by reducing the dose exposure around the planning target volume.

Dyshidrotic eczema is a chronic, enigmatic condition that usually affects the hands and feet that probably accounts for about 5%–20% of hand eczemas. In Ayurveda various skin manifestation are mentioned under different chapter & context like kushtha, visarpa, kshudra kushtha, vidradi, krimi roga, keeta visha (insect bite), Gara visha & Dooshi visha (latent toxicity). Visphota variety of kushtha is characterized by pustules which are either white or reddish in appearance. These pustules have a thin skin and it is pitta-kapha predominant. The ayurvedic diagnosis was made as “Dushivisha janya visaphota kushtha” and treatment was done basis on this. There was not a single cases on the internet treated on Ayurvedic line of management thus the present article was prepared to assess the role of Visha Hara and Rasayan Chikitsa in such emerging automimmune skin condition. Improvement in the skin lesion were observed after a period of 1 months of regular treatment and complete remission with no further attack after 2-month follow-up. The improvement was observable through the follow-up photograph.

HLA-haploidentical allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT) using post-transplantation cyclophosphamide (PT/Cy-haplo) is becoming the standard of care for patients without an HLA-matched related or unrelated donor. PT/Cy-haplo can give more patients the opportunity to undergo allo-HCT, because most patients have multiple available HLA-haploidentical related donor candidates. The optimal donor selection algorithm in the PT/Cy-haplo setting has not yet been established, however. To contribute to the establishment of a donor selection formula based on disease status and killer-cell immunoglobulin-like receptor (KIR) genotype, we retrospectively analyzed 91 patients who underwent PT/Cy-haplo at our institution. In both patients and donors, HLA allele genotyping was performed for HLA-A, -B, -C, and -DRB1, and 16 KIR genes were genotyped. Patients in complete remission (CR) who underwent PT/Cy-haplo from a KIR2DS1-positive donor had a significantly lower cumulative incidence of relapse (CIR) than those who underwent PT/Cy-haplo from a KIR2DS1-negative donor (1-year CIR: 0% versus 32.6%, P = .037; 2-year CIR: 9.2% versus 42%, P = .037). Moreover, PT/Cy-haplo from a KIR2DS1-positive donor was significantly associated with improved overall survival (OS) (1-year OS: 91.7% versus 58.7%, P = .010; 2-year OS: 83% versus 34%, P = .010). In contrast, in non-CR individuals, PT/Cy-haplo from KIR2DS1-positive donors did not significantly improve CIR or OS (1-year CIR: 56.5% versus 64.7%, P = .973; 2-year CIR: not reached versus 64.7%, Pnot evaluable; 1-year OS: 25.4% versus 20.6%, P = .418; 2-year OS: 5.1% versus 20.6%, P = .418). In addition, lower infused CD34+ cell dose, female-to-male transplantation, and acute myelogenous leukemia were significantly associated with increased risk of relapse and mortality. This study demonstrates that graft-versus-leukemia/tumor effects were exerted through donor KIR2DS1 at PT/Cy-haplo when patients have low tumor burdens. It would be worth examining the inclusion of donor KIR genotyping and disease status assessment in establishing optimal donor selection criteria for PT/Cy-haplo.

The mainstay of moderate to severe Crohn's disease (CD), anti-TNF treatment, shows no clinical benefit in ∼40% of patients, likely due to incomplete cellular targeting and delayed treatment institution. While single-target therapeutics have been highly effective for some CD patients, substantial limitations with respect to safety, efficacy, and long-term, complete remission remain. Deconvolution of the cellular and molecular circuitry of tissue lesions underscores the importance of combinatorial strategies targeting cellular niches. This review aims to evaluate current therapeutic approaches used to manage CD, and highlight recent advances to our cellular, genetic, and molecular understanding of mechanisms driving pathogenic niche activation in CD. We propose new frameworks outlining that combinatorial therapies, along with serial tissue sampling and studies guided by genetics and genomics, can advance on current treatment approaches and will inform newer strategies upon which we can move towards precision therapeutics in IBD.

Diabetic hemichorea/hemiballism is a spectrum of hyper kinetic involuntary, non patterned, continuous movements involving one side of the body. It involves contra lateral basal ganglia and often striatum in the brain. Here we are reporting an unusual case of choreiform movement disorder which was sudden in onset. It was accompanied with abnormally high values of blood glucose. Our patient had a complete remission of symptoms after an adequate control of blood glucose was achieved. This case illustrates the importance and rarity of having the knowledge about hyper glycemia as a rare cause of hemichorea as it recovers rapidly with a good prognosis. Screening for hyperglycemia even in those patients without a prior history of diabetes is very important, once they present with an involuntary movement disorder. Recognition and early treatment is beneficial to prevent adverse outcomes. Today, in the medical literature it is often referred to as CHBG (chorea, hyperglycemia, basal ganglia) syndrome.

A 69-year-old man with a history of non-muscle invasive bladder cancer 12 years ago presented complaining of gross hematuria. He was diagnosed as having invasive T4 bladder cancer with invasion to a branch of the internal iliac artery and received platinum-based chemo-radiation therapy. However, the tumor progressed to extensively infiltrate the pelvic wall, and left leg pain and swelling developed. Pembrolizumab was started, which entirely resolved the tumor after 14 courses of treatment. Pembrolizumab was discontinued after 20 courses of treatment because of adverse events. However, the patient has remained in complete response for over 2 years after pembrolizumab cessation.

Mucinous carcinoma of breast is a rare variant of invasive breast carcinoma and usually affects older females and is associated with good prognosis. Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) positivity in these tumors is rare. We describe here a case of advanced stage HER2 + mucinous carcinoma with micropapillary features who underwent complete remission on treatment with radiation therapy and hormonal therapy and presented after eight years with invasive duct carcinoma in the contralateral breast.

Aneurysm of arteriovenous fistulas (AVFs) created for hemodialysis, could be related with several complications including steal syndrome and cardiac abnormalities, requiring thus a fast closure. Considering the high comorbidity of surgical closure, percutaneous endovascular occlusion could be considered as effective and safe treatment. A 58-year-old white male with AVF aneurysm was treated endovascularly, using a combined approach with Amplatzer Vascular Plug II (AVP II) and intraplug coils delivery pricking directly and percutaneously the plug with a 20 G spinal-needle to obtain a fast closure and improving AVP thrombogenicity. To avoid the risk of migration due to the large diameter of these aneurysm, AVP was deployed at the narrowest point of AVFs, exploiting the maximum diameter of the plug using arteriography and fistulography. Patient described quick improvement of initial symptoms and during the follow-up a complete remission of initial symptoms, and no cases of plug migration were observed. There were no late complications related to insertion of the AVP with the coils. Our case report suggests that the endovascular approach is a feasible and safe technique also for the treatment of AVFs giant aneurysm which requires urgent treatment when open surgery is contraindicated. Keywords: Arteriovenous fistula, Aneurysm, Endovascular Procedures

The ideal therapeutic approach for lupus nephritis (LN) is to quickly achieve a complete remission and maintain that response long-term while minimizing drug toxicity, and prevent tissue damage and death. The combination therapy consisting of multiple medications is aimed at incorporating drugs with complementary actions at reduced doses to achieve additive or synergistic therapeutic effects while minimizing toxicity. Here, we review the available evidence using combination therapies (triple therapy) and how such strategies can improve therapeutic efficacy in LN, which will mainly focus on the combination of high-dose corticosteroids with mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) and a calcineurin inhibitor (CNI) at low dose. We discuss the rationale, efficacy, and safety of the therapy, as well as its molecular mechanisms. We also discuss the questions raised from the trials and briefly describe emerging approaches developed on the basis of combination therapy, and these advances that promise to improve on the standard-of-care treatments and toward individual therapy in LN. Keywords: combination therapy, efficacy, lupus nephritis, molecular basis

Extramedullary plasmacytoma of the breast (EPB), a manifestation of multiple myeloma (MM), is very rare. It is important to recognize the imaging findings of EPB because it may be the first manifestation of relapsed MM. An 85-year-old woman presented with a lump in her right breast 4 years after the complete remission of MM. She underwent mammography and ultrasonography, which showed an oval circumscribed mass and an irregular circumscribed heterogeneous solid mass, respectively. Following ultrasound-guided vacuum-assisted breast biopsy, this lesion was confirmed to be EPB. Whole-body computed tomography showed multiple new osteolytic lesions and other multiple extramedullary lesions in addition to EPB in the right breast. The final diagnosis was relapsed MM with multiple extramedullary plasmacytoma. Keywords: Plasmacytoma, Breast, Multiple Myeloma, Ultrasonography, Mammography

Introduction Primary lymphoma of the temporal bone is extremely rare, difficult to diagnose and to manage. It is essential that the clinician keeps in mind the possibility of this pathology as a differential diagnosis with the infections resistant to the usual treatment. Case report We report a rare case of a diffuse large B-cell lymphoma in a 70-year-old- woman, with history of diabetes. The pathological study was in favor of a Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma of the Temporal Bone. Discussion Lymphomas defined as malignant monoclonal proliferation of lymphoid cells, are not uncommon in the head and neck region. Literature presents with few cases. Conclusion The aim of this article is to report a rare case of a diffuse large B-cell lymphoma with primary mastoid and external auditory canal infiltration without systemic involvement initially presented as a benign ear infection., Highlights • Lymphomas defined as malignant monoclonal proliferation of lymphoid cells, are not uncommon in the head and neck region. • Primary lymphoma of the temporal bone is extremely rare. • Difficult to diagnose and to manage. • The diagnosis is confirmed after a biopsy with anatomopathological examination.

Pyoderma gangrenosum manifests as an ulceration of the skin often associated with several systemic diseases. The diagnosis is usually made by exclusion criteria with suggestions made by clinical findings and histological features. It can occur any site but more common in the legs. Advances in translational medicine led to the development of new forms of therapy in chronic inflammatory diseases by the oral administration of Janus kinase inhibitors. We report two cases of chronic ulceration of the skin consistent with the diagnosis of Pyoderma Gangrenosum that went into complete remission after the use of baricitinib.

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are clinically used for treating advanced lung cancer, and some patients have achieved complete remission (CR) with ICI therapy in clinical trials. However, reports summarizing the clinical courses of such patients are limited. We report two cases of lung adenocarcinoma in which CR was achieved with first-line pembrolizumab monotherapy, and the therapeutic effect was maintained after treatment completion. Specific patients can achieve CR, even those who do not meet the previously reported predictors of treatment response other than high programmed death-ligand 1 expression. Thus, biomarkers that can accurately predict the clinical efficacy of ICIs are warranted.

Xanthogranulomatous prostatitis is a rare occasion that mimics the prostate cancer in every aspect of clinical diagnosis. These two occasions require totally diverse therapeutics principles. Thus, emphasis should be exerted to distinguish them. The most precise tool to distinguish them is tissues’ evidence. However, another possible overlooking occasion is successive xanthogranulomatous prostatitis after complete remission under androgen deprivation therapy. This case demonstrated one metastatic prostate cancer with initial treatment of androgen deprivation therapy. PSA was suppressed to the lowest and then radical prostatectomy was performed. Hints from the specimen gave complete remission of cancer cell and development of xanthogranulomatous prostatitis.

Background The choice of a primary treatment for ocular adnexal mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma (OAML) depends on the extent of tumor spread. However, radiotherapy is commonly used as a first-line therapy despite ophthalmic complications, because most OAMLs are in a limited stage of progression. However, the initial therapeutic modality, including chemotherapy and treatment of the advanced stage, has not been fully established for OAML. Therefore, we evaluated the optimal therapeutic options and survival outcome-related parameters for patients with primary OAML. Methods We evaluated 208 consecutive patients with primary OAML who were diagnosed at the Catholic University Lymphoma Group between January 2004 and April 2015. Findings During a median follow-up of 70.0 months (range, 3.2–182.0 months) in 208 patients with primary OAML, most patients were female and the median age was 46 years old. Overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) at 13 years were excellent (92.7% and 69.7%, respectively). Of the 117 patients who received the first-line radiotherapy, 92% achieved complete remission (CR), usually by being treated with less than 30 Gy. Radiation-related ophthalmic complications including dry eye syndrome (59%) and cataract (22%) caused a decline in the quality of life (QoL). Chemotherapy alone was used to treat 86 OAML patients, with 84.9% achieving CR and 12.8% achieving partial remission with tolerable toxicities. There were no differences in survival outcomes between patients treated with radiotherapy versus those treated with rituximab-containing chemotherapy, although the latter group had more advanced stages of OAML (OS, p = 0.057; PFS, p = 0.075). Interpretation OAML patients were predominantly female and relatively young, and radiotherapy as a primary therapeutic option was more likely to lead to radiation-related complications, resulting in lower QoL. On the other hand, frontline chemotherapy showed consistent therapeutic outcomes with tolerable toxicities compared to radiotherapy, and there were no long-term or delayed adverse events. Therefore, when considering therapeutic efficacy and therapy-related QoL, chemotherapy is recommended for younger patients, and radiotherapy is recommended for older and chemotherapy-ineligible patients. Funding A National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korean government (MSIP) (No. NRF-2016R1A2B4007282)., Highlights • OAML occurs predominantly in females and at a relatively young age than other non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas • Radiotherapy and chemotherapy show excellent clinical survival outcomes as a frontline therapy for OAML • Radiotherapy is recommended for the elderly patients, and chemotherapy is preferred for younger patients due to the radiation-related complications

Summary: Treatment for Rectal cancer changed after the induction of concomitant chemo-radiotherapy, CCRT. Complete remission of the tumor leads to debate of the necessity of surgical intervention. We evaluate the treatment outcome to know if operation is beneficial to these patients. Patients received long course concomitant chemo-radiotherapy for advanced rectal cancer between 2004 and 2013 in Taiwan were enrolled. Total 2780 patients diagnosed advanced rectal cancer were enrolled. In these patients, 2578 received surgical intervention and 202 were in wait and see for complete remission tumor. Higher local recurrence rate was found with wait and see group (8.9% vs. 2.7%). Also, better overall survival, disease free survival and local recurrence free survival were seen with the surgical intervention group. Surgical intervention may be benefit for some misdiagnosed completed response to CCRT. Keywords: Rectal cancer, Complete remission, Long course CCRT, Watch and wait

Aim of the work: Ocular manifestations are the main cause of morbidity in Behcet's disease (BD). Infliximab (IFX), a chimeric monoclonal antibody directed against tumor necrosis factor-alpha, may be efficient in refractory uveitis due to BD. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy and safety of IFX in the treatment of patients with BD-associated refractory posterior uveitis (PU). Patient and Methods: Twenty patients with refractory Behcet's PU received IFX therapy as intravenous infusions at the dose of 5 mg/kg at weeks 0,2, 6 (induction) and every 8 weeks for a maximum of 6 infusions. Results: The mean age of the patients was 31.8 ± 9.1 years, disease duration was 8 ± 6 years and 17 (85%) were males. After the third IFX infusion (week 8) a complete remission of PU was recorded in 8/20 (40%) patients and partial remission in 12/20 (60%) patients. At the end of week 32 a complete remission of PU was recorded in a total of 14 (70%) patients. The visual acuity of the 36 affected eyes (16 bilateral and 4 unilateral) showed a significant improvement at the week 8, and at week 32, while there was no additional improvement at week 56. Relapse occurred in 6 patients (30%) between week 9 and week 18 with a mean of 13.5 weeks. Conclusion: IFX infusion should be considered for the control of acute PU, whereas repeated long-term IFX infusions were effective in reducing the number of episodes in refractory PU with fast regression and complete remission of complications. Keywords: Behçet’s disease, Posterior uveitis, Retinal vasculitis, Infliximab

In this paper, a stochastic cellular automata model is presented to investigate the immunotherapy effects on avascular tumor treatment. In this model, the influence of the extracellular matrix on tumor growth is explored. To investigate the immunotherapy effect, first, the model tumor is first allowed to grow in a natural way. Then, immunotherapy is applied by increasing/decreasing the main parameters of the model, based on a threshold number of immune system cells. During the therapy period, the proliferation and escape rates of the cancer cells are decreased, with a constant step. In addition, the rate of cancer cell lysis and the rate of the binding of cancer cells are increased. These changes are continued until the number of immune cells reaches the given threshold. Results show that with a low threshold value, the tumor cell population does not change much. Moreover, by increasing the threshold value, the tumor enters the dormant state, and for the extreme threshold value, a long-term eradication of the tumor would be possible. These results are consistent with those captured by the ordinary differential equation (ODE) based models and also with experimental observations, where it has been shown that many patients can be in complete remission for 7–91 months. Key words: Cancer modeling, Cellular automata, Immune system, Immunotherapy, Extra-cellular

Anal tuberculosis is an extremely rare extrapulmonary presentation of tuberculosis (TB). Less than 1% of the individuals who contract TB manifests as gastrointestinal TB, and anoperineal TB is much less frequently encountered, 1% of the TB cases of the digestive tract. A rare case of anal tuberculosis is reported in a 37-year-old male patient with a recent anal fistula surgery and relapsing anal lesions. AFB were detected by biopsy and culture. In total, the treatment course lasted 6 months and the patient showed signs of recovery in the early stages of the treatment (after 2 weeks), and complete remission was achieved. In conclusion, it is recommended that in case of encountering Non-healing and recurrent anal lesions, especially in regions endemic for TB, should be evaluated for tuberculosis. Keywords: Anal, Tuberculosis, Fistula surgery

Sixty-three children (1–14 years of age) newly diagnosed with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia were treated from January 2001 to December 2014. Patient outcomes were evaluated based on the regimen received; Capizzi methotrexate (C-MTX) vs. high-dose methotrexate (HDMTX). Complete remission (CR) was achieved in 54 of 60 (90.0%) patients and 3 patients died during induction. The 5-year overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) were 88.3 ± 6.5% and 85 ± 7.5%, respectively. Post-induction, 35 patients were treated with HDMTX and 25 with C-MTX. There was no difference in OS or DFS for patients treated with HDMTX vs. C-MTX (P > 0.05 for both). Central nervous system involvement (CNS3) was associated with inferior survival outcomes compared to Non-CNS3 patients (OS, CNS3 73.3 ± 9.1% vs.non-CNS3 93.2 ± 2.6%, (P = 0.045) and DFS, CNS3 66.7 ± 10.4% vs. non-CNS3 90.9 ± 3.1% (P = 0.0163)). Delayed radiation in CNS3 was associated with relapse (P = 0.0037) regardless of regimen. Thus optimization of CNS-directed therapy for patients with CNS3 is needed. Keywords: Acute lymphoblastic leukemia, High dose methotrexate, Central nervous system, T cell, Children

Increasing numbers of patients are receiving allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) for acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Scientific and clinical advances in supportive care, donor selection, and conditioning regimens have resulted in lower transplant-related mortality, extension of care to a wider population of patients, and improvements in survival. Recent era has witnessed an explosive information about the molecular pathophysiology of AML. By early identification of patients at a high risk of relapse, it is expected that a majority of eligible patients will receive HCT in first complete remission. Novel conditioning regimens have been explored to improve transplant outcomes in AML. Currently, a stem cell source can be found for virtually all patients who have an indication to receive HCT. This area of investigation will likely continue to be of intense interest in terms of optimizing transplant outcomes. Keywords: Acute myeloid leukemia, Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation, Novel conditioning regimens, Minimal residual disease

A 54-year-old woman with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) achieved complete remission by induction chemotherapy, but developed zygomycosis after consolidation therapy. As zygomycosis could not be cured by liposomal amphotericin B and micafungin, left lower lobectomy was performed. As AML relapsed 7 months after onset, she received haploidentical stem cell transplantation under administration of liposomal amphotericin B. Despite experiencing severe acute graft-versus-host disease, she remains alive with no relapse of either zygomycosis or AML. Keywords: Zygomycosis, Acute myeloid leukemia, Liposomal amphotericin B, Stem cell transplantation

The rheumatological diseases are a group of chronic, painful, degenerative and debilitating conditions with an increasing prevalence across the globe. The pathogenesis of these disorders is complex, overlapping and not fully understood. As such, it is difficult and time consuming to achieve correct diagnosis and complete remission for an individual patient. In this review we describe the most common forms of inflammatory arthritis and discuss how the management and treatment options for these rheumatic diseases have developed over time. We outline the successes and the limitations of current treatment regimens and discuss the economic burden of the current options. With advancements in understanding of disease mechanisms, we discuss the importance of the biologics revolution in the context of rheumatological disease and how the development of biosimilars and small molecule inhibitors will impact current treatment options in order to alleviate some of the cost burden of biological therapies. The ideal treatment strategy for the future would involve personalized and predictive medicine where by treatments can be tailored to an individual patient's needs in order to achieve fast and successful remission with no adverse events.

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is the most common renal cancer, and has a poor prognosis in individuals with metastases (mRCC). In this report, we describe a 48-year-old woman with unresectable multiple liver metastases and a colonic metastasis of RCC who was treated with sunitinib in combination with hepatic microwave ablation and obtained a clinical and pathological complete remission. We consider that sunitinib combined with microwave ablation can prevent unresectable hepatic metastases of RCC from evolving, and that sunitinib alone can achieve clinical and pathological remission in patients with colonic metastasis of RCC.

Background and aims Pneumothoraces can occur in patients of all ages and genders. We encountered a female adolescent patient who was experiencing recurrent pneumothoraces every several months. She endured an extensive workup to determine an etiology for her pneumothoraces but it was all negative. She was eventually diagnosed with catamenial pneumothorax. This is an established cause of recurrent pneumothorax in adults but is very rare in adolescent patients. Keeping it on the differential for any female of reproductive age with recurrent pneumothoraces may prevent potentially harmful and expensive diagnostic testing and procedures. Methods We reported a case of catamenial pneumothorax in an adolescent patient and reviewed the relevant literature. Results Our patient was a 14-year-old female patient with recurrent pneumothoraces every several months. She had an extensive procedural and genetic workup performed but no etiology was revealed. Due to a temporal relation of the pneumothoraces to menses, an obstetrics and gynecology consult was obtained. Empirical treatment for catamenial pneumothorax was started with a continuous oral contraceptive with combined estrogen-progestin leading to our patient's complete remission. Three years later our patient has not experienced any relapsing episodes of pneumothorax. Conclusion Although rare in younger patients, catamenial pneumothorax should be considered as a cause for recurrent pnueumothoraces in any post-pubertal female.

Autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplant (Auto-HSCT) is a standard salvage option in many types of non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHLs) and preferred option in the first complete remission (CR1) in some subtypes. Pretransplant partial or complete response (chemosensitivity) is a key determinant of outcomes. Age alone is no longer considered a determinant for transplant eligibility, and elderly patients can be safely transplanted depending on the performance status and organ function. Regimens have varied but BEAM (BCNU, Etoposide, Ara-C, and Melphalan) is mostly used in current practice. With a transplant-related mortality

Complete remission (CR) after induction therapy is the first treatment goal in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients and has prognostic impact. Our purpose is to determine the correlation between the observed CR/CRi rate after idarubicin (IDA) and cytarabine (CYT) 3 + 7 induction and the leukemic chemosensitivity measured by an ex vivo test of drug activity. Bone marrow samples from adult patients with newly diagnosed AML were included in this study. Whole bone marrow samples were incubated for 48 h in well plates containing IDA, CYT, or their combination. Pharmacological response parameters were estimated using population pharmacodynamic models. Patients attaining a CR/CRi with up to two induction cycles of 3 + 7 were classified as responders and the remaining as resistant. A total of 123 patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were evaluable for correlation analyses. The strongest clinical predictors were the area under the curve of the concentration response curves of CYT and IDA. The overall accuracy achieved using MaxSpSe criteria to define positivity was 81%, predicting better responder (93%) than non-responder patients (60%). The ex vivo test provides better yet similar information than cytogenetics, but can be provided before treatment representing a valuable in-time addition. After validation in an external cohort, this novel ex vivo test could be useful to select AML patients for 3 + 7 regimen vs. alternative schedules., This study was supported by grants from the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness, Enisa (Empresa Nacional de Innovación, S.A.) and Soprea (Sociedad para la Promoción y Reconversión Económica de Andalucía, S.A.U.).