Mesenchymal Stem Cell Manufacturing for Clinical Use

Mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (MSCs) are adult, self-renewable, multipotent cells that can be isolated in various tissues, most commonly bone marrow (BM) and adipose tissue. Because of their capacity for self-renewal and differentiation into tissues of mesodermal origin and due to their immunomodulatory ability, MSCs are used in many preclinical and clinical studies as possible new therapeutic agents for the treatment of a very broad range of conditions, including heart, hepatic, and neurodegenerative diseases

Two cases of paralitic ileus in onco-hematologic patients

Paralytic ileus is a severe complication resulting from a variety of disorders. It occurs most commonly in patients with serious underlying medical or surgical conditions. Prompt diagnosis and appropriate management may improve the outcome. We describe 2 cases of onco-hematologic patients who presented this complication after intensive chemotherapy

Extracorporeal photopheresis for graft-versus-host disease: The role of patient, transplant, and classification criteria and hematologic values on outcome - Results from a large single-center study

BACKGROUND: Extracorporeal photopheresis (ECP) has been shown as active therapy for graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: The aim was to ascertain the role of ECP in 71 patients with steroid-refractory or -dependent acute and chronic GVHD (aGVHD and cGVHD) with special focus on hematologic variables and GVHD staging classification. A total of 34 patients were treated for aGVHD and 37 for cGVHD. RESULTS: The overall response rate (ORR) for aGVHD was 65% and the complete aGVHD-free survival was 50% (95% confidence interval [CI], 36%-70%). The ORR for cGVHD response was 81% while the complete cGVHD-free survival was 50% (95% CI, 34%-73%). The aGVHD-free survival was associated with aGVHD grading (Grade II 81%, Grade III 33%, and Grade IV 0%, p ≤ 0.00) and the absence of visceral involvement (77% vs. 33%, p = 0.03). The cGVHD-free survival was associated with the female sex (67% vs. 25%, p = 0.01) and with the limited form according to the Seattle classification (67% vs. 20%, p = 0.003). No role for hematologic values or apheresis cell count was found, except for the cGVHD ORR (p = 0.037). Transplant-related mortality and overall survival were associated with ECP response 0% versus 54% (p = 0.0001) and 77% versus 45% (p = 0.03) for aGVHD patients and 7% versus 14% (p = 0.02) and 73% versus 20% (p = 0.0003) for cGVHD patients, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: While confirming a higher probability of GVHD responses for early GVHD, our study shows no role of hematologic values or apheresis cell count on GVHD response

Prognostic role of minimal residual disease before and after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia

More than 80% of children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) can be cured through intensive and risk-oriented chemotherapy protocols. Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is considered bene\ufb01cial for approximately 10% of the patients who are at veryhigh risk at frontline therapy and for the majority of patients after relapse. Consequently, it is critically important to identify prognostic factors in this group of patients in order to tailor risk-adapted therapy. In this retrospective study, we aimed to assess the prognostic role of minimal residual disease (MRD) before HSCT and at di\ufb00erent time points after transplantation in children with ALL