The relationship between physical activity and lymphoma: a systematic review and meta analysis

BACKGROUND: The literature suggests an increased risk between anthropometrics including higher body mass index and lymphoma incidence; however, the association with physical activity remains unclear. A systematic review/meta-analysis was therefore performed to examine this association with physical activity (total, recreational or occupational). METHODS: PubMed, Web of Science and Embase were reviewed from inception to October 2019 identifying relevant observational studies. Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) including subtypes diffuse large B cell lymphoma, follicular lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma, and Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) were analyzed. Included studies reported activity, lymphoma cases, effect size and variability measures, and were restricted to human subjects of any age. Data was pooled generating summary relative risk (RR) estimates with 95% confidence intervals (CI) using random-effects models with primary outcome of histologically confirmed incident lymphoma. RESULTS: One thousand four hundred studies were initially identified with 18 studies (nine cohort, nine case-control) included in final analysis. Comparing highest vs. lowest activity categories was protective for all lymphoma (RR 0.89, 95%CI 0.81-0.98). Sensitivity analysis demonstrated effect persistence within case-control studies (RR 0.82, 95% CI 0.71-0.96), but not cohort studies (RR 0.95, 95%CI 0.84-1.07). Borderline protective effect was seen for NHL (RR 0.92, 95%CI 0.84-1.00), but not HL (RR 0.72, 95%CI 0.50-1.04). Analysis by NHL subtype or gender showed no effect. Dose response analysis demonstrated a protective effect (p = 0.034) with a 1% risk reduction per 3 MET hours/week (RR 0.99, 95%CI 0.98-1.00). CONCLUSIONS: Physical activity may have a protective effect against lymphoma development; further studies are required to generate recommendations regarding health policy. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This study was registered prospectively at PROSPERO: CRD42020156242

Survival Outcomes for US and Canadian Patients Diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma before and after Brentuximab Vedotin Approval for Relapsed/Refractory Disease: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Cost-effectiveness analyses are required for therapies within Canada’s universal healthcare system, leading to delays relative to U.S. healthcare. Patients with Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) generally have an excellent prognosis, but those who relapse after or are ineligible for transplant benefit from novel therapies, including brentuximab vedotin (BV). BV was FDA-approved in 2011 but not Canadian-funded until 2014. To assess the impact of access delays, we compared changes in survival for U.S. (by insurer) and Canadian patients in periods pre/post-U.S. approval. Patients were 16–64 years, diagnosed with HL in 2007–2010 (Period 1) and 2011–2014 (Period 2) from the U.S. SEER and Canadian Cancer Registries. Approval date (surrogate) was utilized as therapy was unavailable in registries. Kaplan-Meier survival curves and adjusted Cox regression models compared survival between periods by insurance category. Among 12,003 U.S. and 4210 Canadian patients, survival was better in U.S. patients (adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) 0.87 (95%CI 0.77–0.98)) between periods; improvement in Canadian patients (aHR 0.84 (95%CI 0.69–1.03) was similar but non-significant. Comparisons between insurers showed survival was significantly worse for U.S. uninsured and Medicaid vs. U.S. privately insured and Canadian patients. Given the increasingly complex nature of oncologic funding, this merits further investigation to ensure equity in access to therapy developments

Spontaneous Retroperitoneal Hemorrhage in a Patient with Prolymphocytic Transformation of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

Prolymphocytic transformation of chronic lymphocytic leukemia is a rare but recognized entity. We present the case of a 76-year-old gentleman with a previous diagnosis of chronic lymphocytic leukemia who presented with fatigue, fever, and a white blood cell count of 500 000 with prolymphocytes on peripheral blood examination. Chlorambucil and dexamethasone were initiated. He developed progressive anemia during his admission with no clear cause on initial CT examination. Bilateral hip pain began several days later and he was unfortunately diagnosed with a large spontaneous retroperitoneal hemorrhage postmortem. This condition is rare and generally occurs in those receiving therapeutic anticoagulation or dialysis, with known bleeding disorders or vascular malformation, none of which were present in our patient. Pathology revealed marked leukemoid engorgement of the vessels of many organs with prolymphocytes. We discuss the potential etiologies and relationships between these critical diagnoses

Abstracts of the Cell Therapy Transplant Canada 2022 Annual Conference

On behalf of Cell Therapy Transplant Canada (CTTC), we are pleased to present the Abstracts of the CTTC 2022 Annual Conference. The conference was held in-person 15–18 June 2022, in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Poster authors presented their work during a lively and engaging welcome reception on Thursday, 16 June, and oral abstract authors were featured during the oral abstract session in the afternoon on Friday, 17 June 2022. Thirty-three (33) abstracts were selected for presentation as posters and six (6) as oral presentations. The top abstracts in each of four (4) categories, (1) Basic/Translational sciences, (2) Clinical Trials/Observations, (3) Laboratory/Quality, and (4) Pharmacy/Nursing/Other Transplant Support, received awards for both the oral and poster presentations. All of these were marked as “Award Recipient” with the relevant category. We congratulate all the presenters on their research and contribution to the field