Current therapy of primary myelofibrosis

pierwotna mielofibroza należy do przewlekłych nowotworów mieloproliferacyjnych o najgorszym rokowaniu, zarówno w odniesieniu do czasu przeżycia, jak i jakości życia. artykuł stanowi podsumowanie wiedzy dotyczącej czynników molekularnych i genetycznych związanej z rozwojem choroby, przedstawia także różne wskaźniki prognostyczne i kliniczne oraz możliwości terapii pierwotnej mielofibrozy.primary myelofibrosis (pmf) belongs to chronic myeloid neoplasms with the worst prognosis in terms of survival and quality of life. This article summarizes current knowledge on molecular and cytogenetic factors related with pmf, presents various stratifications, clinical systems and therapeutic options

Magnetic probe for material characterization at optical frequencies

Rapid development of novel, functional metamaterials made of purely dielectric, plasmonic, or composite structures which exhibit tunable optical frequency magnetic responses creates a need for new measurement techniques. We propose a method of actively measuring magnetic responses, i.e. magnetic dispersion, of such metamaterials within a wide range of optical frequencies with a single probe by exciting individual elementary cells within a larger matrix. The probe is made of a tapered optical fiber with a radially corrugated metal coating. It concentrates azimuthally polarized light in the near-field below the apex into a subwavelength size focus of the longitudinal magnetic field component. An incident azimuthally polarized beam propagates in the core until it reaches the metal stripes of constant angular width running parallel to the axis. For a broad frequency range light-to-plasmon coupling is assured as the lattice constant changes with the radius due to constant angular width. Bound plasmonic modes in slits between the metal stripes propagate toward the apex where circular currents in stripes and displacement currents in slits generate a strong longitudinal magnetic field. The energy density of the longitudinal magnetic component in the vicinity of the axis is much stronger than that of all the other components combined, what allows for pure magnetic excitation of magnetic resonances rather than by the electric field. The scattered signal is then measured in the far-field and analyzed

Monetary Policy Transmission in Poland: A Study of the Importance of Interest Rate and Credit Channels

The importance of credit in the monetary transmission mechanism has recently attained a lot of attention due to a growing understanding that credit market imperfections can have an impact on the monetary policy effectiveness. In this study, using Vector Error Correction Models (VECMs) and Structural Vector Autoregressions (S-VARs), we go in-depth of the role of credit in the Polish monetary policy transmission. Papers on the role of credit in the money transmission mechanism (MTM) in Poland show that the credit channel operates. It seems however, that factors through which it affects the aggregate demand might have changed over time. The most recent study on the bank-level data suggests that the degree of bank liquidity has an impact on its efficiency: the most liquid banks do not reduce their loan supply for firms after monetary policy tightening. Previous works suggested that bank size and capital as well as variables connected with risk taking might have played a role in the credit channel operation. The results presented in this study suggest that the monetary policy impact on loan supply is, if anything, weak. One of the reasons is that Polish banks hold large amounts of highly liquid assets in their portfolios. Banks are therefore able to implement buffer-stock behaviour: in response to a tighter monetary policy, they can reduce their stocks of most liquid assets and insulate loan portfolios. To shed some light on the behaviour of the corporate sector we show how interest rate shocks affect the indebtedness of various types of firms (private, individual . i.e. small privately owned entities employing up to nine persons, state-owned). Since the balance sheet channel (one of the concepts within the broad credit channel theory) stresses the impact of monetary policy on the borrowers. balance sheets, we examine the relationship between loans and financial standing of firms. We find some support for the hypothesis that firms. balance sheets are an important factor in the loan supply function. We also analyse the reactions of various types of loans, i.e. investment, revolving and export credit, as well as real estate and securities loans to monetary policy shocks. Our results suggest that after a monetary tightening the response of investment loans differs from the response of other types of loans

Ruxolinib in therapy if myeloproliferative neoplasms Ph(-)

Ruxolitinib is the first JAK kinase inhibitor registered for the treatment of primary myelofibrosis and post-polycythaemia vera myelofibrosis and post-essential thrombocytaemia myelofibrosis. The article is a summary of current clinical data with ruxolitinib therapy both in myelofibrosis and in other Ph-negative myeloproliferative neoplasms

Optimization of chemo- and radiotherapy in the first line treatment of Hodgkin lymphoma

Hodgkin lymphoma is a disease with good prognosis. Using modern combined modalities, such as chemo- and radiotherapy, up to 90% of patients with limited-stage disease can be cured. However 20–30% of patients with advanced disease fail to achieve durable remission. ABVD has been considered in many countries as a standard treatment. This standard is currently challenged by more intensive BEACOPP protocol. To reduce toxicity without loosing efficacy there are many attempts to tailor therapy using clinical prognostic factors or PET guided therapy. This article summarizes current possibilities of first line treatment of Hodgkin lymphoma with chemo- and radiotherapy

Monoclonal antibodies anti-CD20 in the therapy of aggressive lymphomas

Wprowadzenie przeciwciał monoklonalnych do leczenia chłoniaków nieziarniczych (NHL) stało się przełomem, który zmienił sposób myślenia o terapii przeciwnowotworowej. Wysoka ekspresja takich antygenów, jak CD19, CD20, CD22 na powierzchni limfocytów B sprawia, że są one potencjalnym celem dla leków przeciwnowotworowych. Możliwe stało się postępowanie ukierunkowane na wybiórcze niszczenie komórek nowotworowych, na których powierzchni znajduje się określony antygen, a jednocześnie oszczędzające zdrowe tkanki i narządy. Najwięcej publikacji dokumentujących doświadczenia kliniczne z terapii celowanej dotyczy, jak do tej pory, przeciwciał skierowanych przeciwko antygenowi CD20. Niniejszy artykuł jest ich podsumowaniem w odniesieniu do agresywnych NHL. Hematologia 2010; 1, 4: 342-351Introduction of monoclonal antibodies to the therapy of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) was a milestone that changed the approach to the treatment of this group of malignancies. High expression of CD19, CD20, CD22 on B-cell surface makes them targetable with this class of antineoplastic agents. Monoclonal antibodies allow selective targeting of lymphoma cells expressing the cognate antigen, with only limited toxicity to healthy tissues and organs. Monoclonal antibody targeting CD20 has accumulated the most extensive volume of clinical evidence. This article provides a critical review summarizing its applications in aggressive NHL. Hematologia 2010; 1, 4: 342-35

Bi-metal coated aperture SNOM probes

Aperture probes of scanning near-field optical microscopes (SNOM) offer resolution which is limited by a sum of the aperture diameter at the tip of a tapered waveguide probe and twice the skin depth in metal used for coating. An increase of resolution requires a decrease of the aperture diameter. However, due to low energy throughput of such probes aperture diameters usually are larger than 50 nm. A groove structure at fiber core-metal coating interface for photon-to-plasmon conversion enhances the energy throughput 5-fold for Al coated probes and 30-fold for Au coated probes due to lower losses in the metal. However, gold coated probes have lower resolution, first due to light coupling from the core to plasmons at the outside of the metal coating, and second due to the skin depth being larger than for Al. Here we report on the impact of a metal bilayer of constant thickness for coating aperture SNOM probes. The purpose of the bilayer of two metals of which the outer one is aluminum and the inner is a noble metal is to assure low losses, hence larger transmission. Using body-of-revolution finite-difference time-domain simulations we analyze properties of probes without corrugations to measure the impact of using a metal bilayer and choose an optimum bi-metal configuration. Additionally we investigate how this type of metalization works in the case of grooved probes

Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma in elderly

Około 30% chorych na chłoniaka rozlanego z dużych limfocytów B (DLBCL) to osoby > 70. rokużycia. Rytuksymab w skojarzeniu z CHOP pozostaje standardową metodą leczenia chorych w wiekupodeszłym z wyjątkiem osób z istotnymi schorzeniami współistniejącymi. Stosowanie R-CHOP w tejgrupie wiąże się z ryzykiem mielotoksyczności oraz kardiotoksyczności indukowanej doksorubicyną.Istotne dla skuteczności chemioterapii jest leczenie wspomagające m.in. czynnikami stymulującymigranulopoezę (G-CSF). W pracy podsumowano możliwości optymalizacji leczenia DLBCL u osóbw wieku podeszłym.Approximately 30% of patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) are older than 70 years. Rituximabadded to CHOP remains standard protocol in elderly patients except for those with severe comorbidities.Treatment with R-CHOP in elderly is complicated by substantial myelotoxicity and doxorubicininduced cardiotoxicity. Therefore supportive care including granulocytes growth factors administration ismandatory. This article summarizes possibilities of optimization of therapy of DLBCL in elderly