Invasive Candida Infections in Patients With Haematological Malignancies and Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant Recipients: Current Epidemiology and Therapeutic Options.

In the last decades, the global epidemiological impact of invasive candidiasis (IC) in patients with hematologic malignancies (HM) and in hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) recipients has decreased and the incidence of invasive aspergillosis exceeded that of Candida infections. The use of prevention strategies, first of all antifungal prophylaxis with triazoles, contributed to the reduction of IC in these populations as demonstrated by several epidemiological studies. However, relatively little is known about the current epidemiological patterns of IC in HM and HSCT populations, because recent epidemiological data almost exclusively derive from retrospective experiences and few prospective data are available. Several prospective, controlled studies in the prophylaxis of invasive fungal diseases have been conducted in both the HM and HSCT setting. On the contrary, most of the prospective controlled trials that demonstrated the efficacy of the antifungal drugs echinocandins and voriconazole in the treatment of candidemia and invasive candidiasis mainly involved patients with underlying conditions other than HM or HSCT. For these reasons, international guidelines provided specific indications for the prophylaxis strategies in HM and HSCT patients, whereas the recommendations on therapy of documented Candida infections are based on the results observed in the general population and should be considered with caution

MYC Rearranged Aggressive B-Cell Lymphomas: A Report on 100 Patients of the Fondazione Italiana Linfomi (FIL)

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How to identify patients at risk of developing lymphomatous meningitis [Come identificare i pazienti a rischio di sviluppare meningite linfomatosa]

[No abstract available

New salvage treatment options for relapsing-refractory patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma previously treated with chemo-immunotherapy

[No abstract available

Impact of dose-dense immunochemotherapy on prognosis of germinal center and non germinal center origin of diffuse large B cell lymphoma.

Diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is the most common type of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Gene-expression profiling in DLCBL has brought insight into the biological heterogeneity of the disease. Two major subgroups have been identified: germinal center B (GCB) cell and non-germinal center (non-GCB). The aim of this study was to define retrospectively by immunohistochemistry the bcell origin of 69 patients treated with R-CHOP14 and to evaluate if dose-dense therapy could improve their clinical outcome. According to immunohistochemistry analysis 28 patients were derived from germinal center and 41 from non-germinal center. After a median period of observation of 46 months (range 3-101 months) the overall survival (OS) was 75% and progression-free survival (PFS) was 53% and no differences were observed according to cell origin. In conclusion, we can point out that intensification could enhance the efficacy of the R-CHOP regimen and improve overall survival in patients with non germinal lymphoma

Atypical presentation of anaplastic large T-cell lymphoma mimicking an articular relapse of rheumatoid arthritis in a patient treated with etanercept. A case report and literature review

[No abstract available

Behind the scenes of non-nodal MCL: downmodulation of genes involved in actin cytoskeleton organization, cell projection, cell adhesion, tumour invasion, TP53 pathway and mutated status of immunoglobulin heavy chain genes.

Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is an aggressive neoplasm with a short survival. Cases with leukaemic MCL and splenomegaly without adenopathies (non-nodal MCL) may have a more indolent course. To gain insights into the biological features underlying this presentation, we investigated the gene expression profile (GEP) and the IGHV mutational status in a cohort of leukaemic MCL cases. Comparison of MCL with other lymphoproliferative disorders (i.e. splenic marginal zone lymphoma, follicular lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukaemia) revealed a MCL signature enriched for the following gene categories: mitochondrion, oxidoreductase activity, response to stress, to DNA damage and TP53-pathway. Furthermore, GEP analysis revealed that non-nodal MCL cases were characterized by the down-modulation of the following gene categories: cell projection, actin cytoskeleton organization, cell adhesion (ITGAE, CELSR1, PCDH9) and tumour invasion/progression (PGF, ST14, ETS1, OCIAD1, EZR). Many down-modulated genes were related to the TP53-pathway and to DNA damage response. IGHV status proved unmutated in all nodal and mutated in all non-nodal MCL. Non-nodal leukaemic MCLs display a peculiar clinical presentation, with distinctive biological features, such as mutated IGHV and a transcriptional profile lacking tumour invasion properties, that might contribute to the absence of nodal involvement and to the less aggressive clinical course