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AbstractCytokine release syndrome (CRS) occurs frequently after haplo-identical allogeneic stem cell transplantation (alloSCT) with post-transplant cyclophosphamide (PTCy), increasing nonrelapse mortality (NRM) and decreasing survival. Data on CRS in HLA-matched alloSCT are limited and effects of specific HLA-mismatches on CRS development unknown. We hypothesized that in HLA-matched alloSCT increasing degrees of HLA-mismatching influence CRS incidence, NRM and survival. Retrospective analysis of 126 HLA-matched PTCy-alloSCT patients showed that higher degrees of HLA-mismatching significantly increased CRS incidence (26%, 75% and 90% CRS with 12/12, 10/10 and 9/10 matched donors, respectively). Maximum temperature during CRS increased with higher HLA-mismatch. Specific associations between HLA-mismatches and CRS could be determined. Grade 2 CRS and CRS-induced grade 3 fever were associated with significantly increased NRM (p < 0.001 and p = 0.003, respectively) and inferior survival (p < 0.001 and p = 0.005, respectively). NRM was mainly caused by disease conditions that may be considered CRS-induced inflammatory responses (encephalopathy, cryptogenic organizing pneumonia and multi-organ failure). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The differential intensity of FDG-avid lesions, along with acute and chronic symptoms and iron deficiency anemia caused by intestine involvement, was suspect for distinct disease entities, and consequently the axilla and colon lesions were biopsied. The intensity PET-CT projection showed multiple lesions with varying maximum standardized uptake values (SUVmax), indicating that these lesions reflect different disease entities (Figure 1(A,B)). These two lesions were biopsied and it has been assumed that these represent all other lesions with comparable FDG-avidity because taking more biopsies is not patient friendly, clinically inefficient and the chances of having a third synchronous lymphoma are negligibly small. The presented unique case demonstrated this individualized approach for both lymphoma subtypes and anatomical sites by adjuvant radiotherapy of the axillary PET avid lesions and the initiation of LR for the persistent MCL bowel lesions. [Extracted from the article]

The article discusses research which was conducted to investigate whether template-switching anchored polymerase chain reaction (PCR) reliably amplifies functional lambda light chain transcripts of malignant lymphoma. Researchers used an alternative approach to current strategies for analysis of immunoglobulin transcripts that did not rely on the use of multiplex PCR to amplify the rearranged variable regions of antigen receptor loci. They found that their strategy was able to amplify the light chain transcripts of malignant lymphoma.

The immune cell composition of the follicular lymphoma (FL) tumor microenvironment is increasingly recognized as an important determinant for clinical outcome. Here, we explored frequency and distribution of dendritic cell (DC) subtypes in relation to regulatory T cells (Treg) by immunohistochemistry in lymph node biopsies from patients withde novoFL. We found that neoplastic follicles contained lower DC and higher Treg frequencies than hyperplastic follicles in control lymph nodes. Treg numbers particularly correlated with the subset of conventional CD11c+ DCs. Additionally, both a high intra- to interfollicular ratio of CD11c+ DCs and increased intrafollicular Treg frequencies were associated with decreased overall survival. This suggests that functional interactions between these cells may be relevant for FL progression/recurrence. The presence of CD11c+ DCs in the tumor microenvironment may assist tumor infiltration by Tregs, thus contributing to the suppression of an otherwise beneficial T-cell-dominated FL microenvironment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In B-cells, activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) is required for somatic hypermutation (SHM) and class switch recombination (CSR) of immunoglobulin genes. AID introduces mutations in immunoglobulin variable regions (IGV) during B-cell receptor affinity maturation, but may also introduce aberrant mutations into non-immunoglobulin genes, most commonly BCL6. Follicular lymphoma (FL) B-cells constitutively express AID and undergo CSR, SHM and aberrant SHM. We have studied AID expression, the presence of SHM mutations, CSR, and aberrant SHM in BCL6 in a cohort of 75 FL patients. Whereas IgM-expressing (non-switched) FL were characterized by an expected positive correlation between AID and IGV and BCL6 mutations, isotype-switched FL showed dissociation between AID expression and aberrant SHM, and inverse correlation between SHM and AID expression. Our results unveil two manifest biological subgroups of FL and indicate that the specific dissociation between AID and SHM after isotype switch may correlate with the clinical outcome of this heterogeneous disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extra-nodal NK/T lymphoma (ENKTL) is rare and more frequently encountered in East Asia. The role of high-dose therapy and autologous stem cell transplantation (HDT-ASCT) for ENKTL is unclear. Twenty-eight evaluable patients who had undergone HDT-ASCT in Europe from 2000–2009 were studied. The median age was 47 years and patients had received a median of two lines of prior therapy. Some 57% of patients were not in complete remission or beyond first complete remission at HDT-ASCT. The 1-year non-relapse mortality (NRM) was 11%; 2-year progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) rates were 41% and 52%, respectively. Notably, the 2-year PFS and OS for those with stage III/IV disease were 33% and 40%, respectively, with no relapses beyond 1-year post-HDT-ASCT. This is the largest analysis of HDT-ASCT for patients with ENKTL reported from the Western hemisphere. Survival is comparable to East Asian cohorts and outcomes are encouraging for patients with advanced disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]