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Summary: The bendamustine–rituximab (BR) schedule is an efficient first‐line therapy in Waldenström macroglobulinaemia (WM). A previous analysis of 69 patients who received this treatment confirmed a high response rate and good progression‐free (PFS) and overall survival (OS). With a median follow‐up of 76.1 months (95% confidence interval [CI] 69.9–80.6), 5‐year outcome is still excellent at 66.63% (95% CI 56.09–79.17) for PFS and 80.01% (95% CI 70.82–90.41) for OS. The rate of secondary cancers is 17.66% (IQR 7.99–27.64) at 66 months. Relapsed patients who received ibrutinib as second‐line clearly benefited from this schedule. This confirms current recommendations suggesting BR long‐term efficacy as first‐line option in WM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Lenalidomide maintenance therapy prolonged progression‐free survival (PFS) versus placebo in elderly patients with diffuse large B‐cell lymphoma (DLBCL) responding to induction chemotherapy in the phase 3 REMARC study. This subpopulation analysis assessed the impact of lenalidomide maintenance and treatment‐emergent adverse events (TEAEs) on health‐related quality of life (HRQOL). Global health status (GHS), and physical functioning and fatigue subscales were evaluated in patients who completed the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer quality‐of‐life questionnaire‐C30 v3.0. The impact of TEAEs classified post hoc as subjective (patients can feel) or observable (only measurable by physicians) on dose reductions and discontinuations was assessed. Among 457 patients (lenalidomide, n = 229; placebo, n = 228), mean (standard deviation) GHS was similar between treatment arms [68·2 (20·7) Versus 72·0 (17·8)] at randomisation and remained similar during maintenance. Patients receiving lenalidomide experienced no meaningful changes in GHS, physical functioning, or fatigue. Observable TEAEs were more common (81·1% Versus 66·3%) and more likely to lead to dose reductions, than subjective TEAEs in both arms. PFS was superior in the lenalidomide arm regardless of dose reduction. Lenalidomide maintenance prolonged PFS and did not negatively impact HRQOL in patients with DLBCL despite TEAEs being more common, when compared with placebo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) stratification mainly relies on FISH markers according to Döhner's hierarchical model which includes high‐risk FISH markers, intermediate FISH, or low‐risk FISH. Recently, complex karyotype (CK) has been demonstrated as an independent negative prognostic factor in CLL. Methods: A series of 1012 untreated CLL patients have been investigated with both FISH and chromosome banding analysis (CBA) on the same pellet obtained from interleukin IL‐2‐CPG DSP30 oligonucleotide‐stimulated cultured cells. Results: Combining both FISH and CBA has led to refine prognostic categories with identification of 30% of CK in low‐risk and intermediate FISH group. This raises the issue of switching them to a high‐risk group. While this series confirmed the significant association between CK and high‐risk FISH (P = .003), 33% of CK present no ATM or TP53 deletion. Three groups characterized by significant association between FISH markers and CBA have emerged: CK with TP53 loss and monosomy 15; CK with ATM loss and 14q32 translocation; and CK without ATM or TP53 losses but trisomies 12, 18, and 19 or t(14;18)(q32;q21). Conclusion: We have observed that in addition to FISH analysis, the CBA allows detection of many abnormalities with potential impact on patient follow‐up and treatment, mainly CK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on study that evaluated the efficacy and safety of bendamustine plus rituximab (BR) in symptomatic untreated patients with Waldenstr€om macroglobulinaemia (WM). It mentions the results like a patient developed myelodysplastic syndrome after BR initiation and other developed breast cancer.

The recent introduction of mass cytometry, a technique coupling a cell introduction system generating a stream of single cells with mass spectrometry, has greatly increased the number of parameters that can be measured per single cell. As with all new technology there is a need for dissemination of standardization and quality control procedures. Here, we characterize variations in sensitivity observed across the mass range of a mass cytometer, using different lanthanide tags. We observed a five-fold difference in lanthanide detection over the mass range and demonstrated that each instrument has its own sensitivity pattern. Therefore, the selection of lanthanide combinations is a key step in the establishment of a staining panel for mass cytometry-based experiments, particularly for multicenter studies. We propose the sensitivity pattern as the basis for panel design, instrument standardization and future implementation of normalization algorithms. © 2015 International Society for Advancement of Cytometry [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In aerobic cells, urate is oxidized to 5-hydroxyisourate by two distinct enzymes: a coenzyme-independent urate oxidase ( EC 1.7.3.3) found in eukaryotes and bacteria like Bacillus subtilis and a prokaryotic flavoprotein urate hydroxylase ( HpxO) originally found in some Klebsiella species. More cases of analogous or non-homologous isofunctional enzymes ( NISE) for urate catabolism have been hypothesized by inspecting bacterial genomes. Here, we used a functional complementation approach in which a candidate gene for urate oxidation is integrated by homologous recombination in the Acinetobacter baylyi ADP1 genome at the locus of its original hpxO gene. Catabolism of urate was restored in A. baylyi ADP1 expressing a FAD-dependent protein from Xanthomonas campestris, representing a new urate hydroxylase family that we called HpyO. This enzyme was kinetically characterized and compared with other HpxO enzymes. In contrast to the latter, HpyO is a typical Michaelian enzyme. This work provides the first experimental evidences for the function of HpyO in bacterial urate catabolism and establishes it as a NISE of HpxO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study on the cryptic chromosomal translocation, in which DNA topoisomerase 3-alpha (TOP3A) is fused to MLL in a de novo acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patient. It says that a 51-year-old man was presented with high fever, wherein a flow-cytometry immunophenotyping was performed and diagnosed AML. Furthermore, it notes that TOP3A is the first topoisomerase which was identified as a (translocation partner gene TPG) of MLL.

The article offers information on the Primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL), a form of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) to the central nervous system (CNS). Topics discussed include incidence of somatic mutations affecting the immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motif, expression of chemokine receptors on malignant cells, and ibrutinib drug resistance in lymphoma.