Transfusion d'aujourd'hui, folie de demain?

Transfusion d'aujourd'hui, folie de demain

La formation en médecine transfusionnelle reste insuffisante dans les centres d'Afrique subsaharienne francophone: Résultats d'une étude préliminaire

Purpose of the study: To evaluate the needs in staff training in transfusion centres of Sub-Saharan Africa. Material and methods: This preliminary study analyzed the training level of each personnel of four blood banks of Sub-Saharan Africa, their training fields, duration and training structures. Results: The needs remain high in all the fields and are critical regarding the administration of blood transfusion services, equipment maintenance and clinical use of blood. © 2011 Elsevier Masson SAS

Chromosomal translocations independently predict treatment failure, treatment-free survival and overall survival in B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients treated with cladribine.

Chromosomal translocations represent an important prognostic indicator in B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL). However, their value had been neither determined in homogeneously treated patients nor compared to that of IgV(H) mutational status. Sixty-five B-CLL patients were investigated using cytogenetics, interphase fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), analysis of IgV(H) and of TP53 mutational status before treatment with 2-chloro-2'-deoxyadenosine (CdA). Translocations (n=45) were detected in 42% of the patients, including both balanced (n=12) and unbalanced (n=33) types. IgV(H) was mutated in 43% of the patients. Patients with translocations were more heavily pretreated (P=0.05), presented with more complex karyotypes (P<0.001), 17p abnormalities and TP53 mutations, and had a higher failure rate (59 vs 21% in patients without translocations, P=0.004). Patients with unbalanced translocations displayed a shorter median treatment-free survival (TFS, 6.9 vs 35.9 months, log rank 22.72, P<0.001) and overall survival (OS, 13.0 vs 68.0 months, log rank 16.51, P<0.001), as compared to patients without translocation. In multivariate analysis, unbalanced translocations were independently associated with therapeutic failure, short TFS and short OS. IgV(H) mutational status was independently associated with risk of failure and TFS, but not OS. In B-CLL patients treated with CdA, translocations are strong predictors of outcome