All-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) in non-promyelocytic acute myeloid leukemia (AML): results of combination of ATRA with low-dose Ara-C in three elderly patients with NPM1-mutated AML unfit for intensive chemotherapy and review of the literature

Based upon the clinical behavior of three patients, we suggest that the combination of low-dose Ara-C and all-trans retinoic acid may potentially be effective in some elderly patients, unfit for intensive chemotherapy, affected with NPM1-mutated acute myeloid leukemia without FLT3 mutations, warranting perspective clinical studies in these selected patients

Il rilievo tridimensionale in archeologia: Computer Vision e laser scanning a confronto. Il caso studio del settore 3 del sito archeologico di Adulis (Eritrea), "ArcheoFOSS 2013, VIII workshop open source free software e open format nei processi di ricerca archeologica", Catania,18-13 giugno 2013 (poster)

<p>Il contributo intende presentare un confronto tra i risultati ottenuti da due differenti tecniche di rilievo tridimensionale applicate al medesimo contesto archeologico. Il primo approccio è closed source e basato sull’utilizzo di un laser scanner. Il secondo approccio è completamente open source e basato su tecniche di Computer Vision: Structure-from-Motion, Clustering Views for Multi-View Stereo (CMVS) e Patch-based Multi View Stereo (PMVS).</p> <p> </p

Il sito di Adulis (Eritrea). Raccolta e gestione dei dati archeologici tramite software opensource, "ArcheoFOSS 2012, VII workshop open source free software e open format nei processi di ricerca archeologica", Roma - Palazzo Massimo alle terme, 11-12-13 giugno 2012 (poster).

<p>Adulis Project è un progetto quinquennale avviato nel 2010 dal Centro di GeoTecnologie dell’Università degli Studi di Siena, il Ce.R.D.O (Centro Ricerche sul Deserto Orientale) e il National Museum of Eritrea (e con la collaborazione iniziale del Museo Civico di Rovereto), che ha l’obiettivo di riportare alla luce e valorizzare il sito archeologico di Adulis in Eritrea.</p> <p>La città portuale di Adulis, 50 chilometri a sud di Massawa, è uno dei più importanti siti storici del paese per i suoi edifici monumentali e il valore dei reperti archeologici scoperti finora. Secondo le fonti classiche era uno dei principali porti per il commercio nel Mar Rosso durante l'antichità: localizzata in un punto di snodo tra il Mar Rosso e l'Oceano Indiano, questa città ha un'importanza fondamentale per la comprensione dei contatti commerciali antichi tra il Mediterraneo e l'Oriente.</p> <p>Un lavoro di rilievo delle strutture integre e dei crolli ancora visibili in situ, lo scavo e la documentazione prodotta da tre nuovi settori, hanno reso necessario la raccolta tutti i dati pregressi e nuovi in un Sistema informativo territoriale che permettesse l’analisi, la gestione e l’interrogazione delle informazioni. In questa sede si mostreranno parte dei risultati delle prime due campagne di scavo effettuate nel 2011 e nel 2012.</p> <p>In particolare, si intende presentare la gestione dei dati di scavo effettuata attraverso applicazioni GIS opensource. I dati di scavo, vettoriali ed alfanumerici, sono stati gestiti utilizzando PyArchInit, un plugin per QuantumGIS che sfrutta le potenzialità del database PostgreSQL con estensione Postgis. Tale scelta è stata fatta per mettere a disposizione dell’intero team del progetto, composto da ricercatori italiani ed eritrei, un sistema di gestione libero dai costi di licenza software.</p> <p>L’applicazione consente l’analisi e la relazione tra elementi stratigrafici, piante di strato e di fase, permettendo interrogazioni e ricerche sulle classi di materiali e sulle strutture rinvenute, con la finalità di catalogare e ordinare la documentazione raccolta durante lo scavo, ma soprattutto di aiutare a comprendere le dinamiche del sito e ad interpretarne la successione stratigrafica e cronologica. Tra le particolarità di tale applicazione vi sono la possibilità di creazione automatica ed esportazione della matrix, piante di scavo e pdf, oltre a quella di essere gestibile anche in remoto attraverso internet: il sistema potrà in questo modo essere fruibile da tutti i componenti del team del progetto nei propri ambienti di lavoro, ovvero sia sul campo che in laboratorio, e può in tal modo essere aggiornato in tempo reale.</p

An unusual case of splenomegaly and increased lactate dehydrogenase heralding acute myeloid leukemia with eosinophilia and RUNX1–MECOM fusion transcripts

We report the first case of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with RUNX1–MECOM fusion transcripts, showing marked eosinophilia. A 63-year old man admitted in August 2013, had previously been observed in April 2013, because of persisting homogeneous splenomegaly and increased LDH, which were initially attributed to both minor β-thalassemia and previous acute myocardial infarction. However, based upon the retrospective analysis of clinical features combined with the documentation of both JAK2 V617F and c-KIT D816V mutations at AML diagnosis, an aggressive leukemic transformation with eosinophilia of a previously unrecognized myeloproliferative neoplasm, rather than the occurrence of de novo AML, may be hypothesized

INTERACTION BETWEEN ENDOTHELIUM AND CHRONIC LYMPHOCYTIC LEUKEMIA B-CELLS RESCUES FROM APOPTOSIS AND MODULATES GENE EXPRESSION PROFILE OF LEUKEMIC CELLS

Background. Despite an apparent long life in vivo, CLL cells die rap- idly in vitro. This observation suggests that the apoptotic resistance is not intrinsic to leukemia B cells but extrinsic factors are necessary for CLL prolonged survival. Aims. we investigated the interactions be- tween endothelial cells and CLL cells, highlighting molecular net- works involved in this cellular crosstalk. Methods. we co-cultured CLL cells on HUVEC endothelial monolayer (HC) or in medium alone (CLL only). Then, we detected CLL viability by flow cytometry and we performed whole-genome high density microarrays. Results. we found that endothelial cells protected CLL from spontaneous apop- tosis. After 48h, increased number of alive CLL cells was present in HC condition (59.7 ± 4.2%) compared to CLL alone (22.9 ± 5.1%) (p<0.0001). Moreover, we found that spontaneous in vitro apoptosis was higher in unmutated IGHV CLL (UM-CLL) compared to mutated ones (M-CLL). In HC condition, similar survival was detected be- tween M-CLL and UM-CLL, implying a 2.2-fold increase in relative viability in M-CLL and a 6.1-fold increase in UM-CLL. Moreover, the endothelial cell layer decreased the in vitro sensitivity of CLL cells to Fludarabine-induced apoptotic cell death. The mean viability of CLL cells treated with 10 µM Fludarabine was 19.8% (±4.4%) after 48 hours and 3.8% (±1.3%) after 72 hours. In HC with Fludarabine ad- dition, the mean viability of CLL cells was 37.8% (±9.1%) after 48 hours and 14.3% (±3.2%) after 72 hours. Then, we compared gene expression profiles (GEP) between CLL cultured in contact with EC layer and CLL at baseline to unravel the transcriptional modifications induced by EC cells. Overall 1944 genes were found to be modulated (FC≥2, p<0.05). CLL cells in HC condition showed a 22.6-fold in- crease of CCL2, able to recruit tumor-activated monocytes (p=0.0032) and a 6.5-fold increase of PDGFC, chemoattractant for mesenchymal stromal cells (p=0.0051). Other soluble factors up-reg- ulated by EC/CLL contact were VEGFC (FC=9.4, p=0.0061), ANGTL4 (FC=8.6, p=0.015), EDN1 (FC=9.2, p=0.0061), AMOTL2 (FC=4.3, p=0.019) and THBS1 (FC=45.1, p=0.0004) as well as the metalloproteases MMP2 (FC=8.3, p=0.02) and MMP4 (FC=3.0, p=0.039). The GEP data were confirmed by evaluating the secreted levels of soluble factors in conditioned medium collected after 48h- HC culture. In addition, CLL cells on endothelial layer maintained or increased the expression levels of anti-apoptotic factors Bcl-2, Bcl2A1, BIRC3/c-IAP2 and BIRC5/Survivin compared to CLL cells at baseline. Of interest, the Ang2 tyrosine kinase receptor Tie2 mRNA was found to be increased in CLL cells in co-culture (FC=10.7, p=0.017). We confirmed GEP data by flow cytometry finding a 2-fold and a 4.3-fold increase of percentage of Tie2+CLL cells at 48h and 72h in HC. Conclusion. our results demonstrate a role of endothelial cells in CLL survival advantage and Fludarabine-resistance. The inti- mate contacts with EC seem to determine a microenvironmental- driven angiogenic switch of CLL phenotype, improve the secretion of cytokines involved in regulation of microenvironmental elements such as stromal cells and macrophages and increase the expression of anti-apoptotic molecules

Detection of Pneumocystis jirovecii and Aspergillus spp. DNa in bronchoalveolar lavage fluids by commercial real-time PCr assays: comparison with conventional diagnostic tests

The present study employed two commercial real-time PCR kits, MycAssay™ Pneumocystis (PJ-PCR) and MycAssay™ Aspergillus (ASP-PCR), for the search of fungal DNA on 44 bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluids from patients at risk of invasive fungal disease. Operationally, on the basis of clinical diagnosis and according to the European Organization for Research and Treatment Cancer/Mycoses Study Group (EORTC/MSG) criteria, patients were clustered in 3 groups: a P. jirovecii pneumonia (PCP) group, an invasive aspergillosis (IA) group and a control (CTRL) group, consisting of 8, 10 and 24 patients, respectively. The results were compared to those obtained with conventional diagnostic assays, including BAL culture, galactomannan-ELISA (GM) and immunofluorescence (IF). The PJ-PCR assay returned a sensitivity and specificity of 100% and 94.4%, respectively. The ASP-PCR assay showed a sensitivity and specificity of 80% and 97.1%. When compared to the culture assay, the ASP-PCR showed enhanced sensitivity, and a good level of agreement (kappa = 0.63) was observed between ASP-PCR and GM assays. Overall, our data emphasize the diagnostic usefulness of the two commercial real-time PCR assays, especially in high-risk patients where timing is critical and a low fungal burden may hamper correct and prompt diagnosis by conventional tests

Safety profile of Erwinia asparaginase treatment in adults with newly diagnosed acute lymphoblastic leukemia: a retrospective monocenter study

Safety profile of Erwinia asparaginase treatment in adults with newly diagnosed acute lymphoblastic leukemia: a retrospective monocenter study

Chronic and recurrent benign lymphadenopathy without constitutional symptoms associated with human herpesvirus-6B reactivation

Chronic/recurrent behaviour may be encountered in some distinct atypical or malignant lymphoproliferations, while recurrences are not generally observed in reactive/benign lymphadenopathies. We retrospectively anal- ysed a consecutive series of 486 human immunodeficiency virus-negative adults, who underwent lymphadenectomy. Neoplastic and benign/reactive histopathological pictures were documented in 299 (61 5%) and 187 (38 5%) cases, respectively. Of note, seven of the 111 (6 3%) patients with benign lymphadenopathy without well-defined aetiology, showed chronic/ recurrent behaviour, without constitutional symptoms. Enlarged lymph nodes were round in shape and hypoechoic, mimicking lymphoma. Reac- tive follicular hyperplasia and paracortical expansion were observed. Human herpesvirus (HHV)-6B positive staining in follicular dendritic cells (FDCs) was documented in all seven patients. Serological, molecular and immunological examinations suggested HHV-6B reactivation. Among the remaining 104 cases with reactive lymphoid hyperplasia in the absence of well-known aetiology and without recurrences, positivity for HHV-6B on FDCs was found in three cases, whereas in seven further patients, a scanty positivity was documented in rare, scattered cells in inter-follicular regions. Immunohistochemistry for HHV-6A and HHV-6B was invariably negative on 134 lymph nodes, with either benign pictures with known aetiology or malignant lymphoproliferative disorders, tested as further controls. Future studies are warranted to investigate a potential association between HHV- 6B reactivation and chronic/recurrent benign lymphadenopathy

Atraumatic splenic rupture in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes: Report of a case occurred during treatment with 5-azacitidine and review of the literature.

No abstract availabl

Epidemiology and clinical outcome of lower respiratory tract infections by respiratory syncytial virus or parainfluenza virus type 3 in adults receiving treatment for either acute leukemia or severe aplastic anemia: a retrospective single center study

Epidemiology and clinical outcome of lower respiratory tract infections by respiratory syncytial virus or parainfluenza virus type 3 in adults receiving treatment for either acute leukemia or severe aplastic anemia: a retrospective single center stud