Efficacy and prognostic factors of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation treatment for T lymphoblastic leukemia/lymphoma / 中华血液学杂志

Objective: To analyze the efficacy and prognostic factors of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) for treating T lymphoblastic leukemia/lymphoma (T-ALL/LBL) . Methods: This study retrospectively evaluated 119 adolescent and adult patients with T-ALL/LBL from January 2006 to January 2020 at Peking University Third Hospital and Institute of Hematology and Blood Diseases Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. Patients were divided into chemotherapy-only, chemotherapy followed by allo-HSCT, and chemotherapy followed by autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (auto-HSCT) groups according to the consolidation regimen, and the 5-year overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) rates of each group were compared. Results: Among 113 patients with effective follow-up, 96 (84.9%) patients achieved overall response (ORR), with 79 (69.9%) having complete response (CR) and 17 (15.0%) having partial response (PR), until July 2022. The analysis of the 96 ORR population revealed that patients without transplantation demonstrated poorer outcomes compared with the allo-HSCT group (5-year OS: 11.4% vs 55.6%, P=0.001; 5-year PFS: 8.9% vs 54.2%, P<0.001). No difference was found in 5-year OS and 5-year PFS between the allo-HSCT and auto-HSCT groups (P=0.271, P=0.197). The same results were achieved in the CR population. Allo-HSCT got better 5-year OS (37.5% vs 0) for the 17 PR cases (P=0.064). Different donor sources did not affect 5-year OS, with sibling of 61.1% vs hap-haploidentical of 63.6% vs unrelated donor of 50.0% (P>0.05). No significant difference was found in the treatment response in the early T-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia/lymphoma (ETP) and non-ETP populations. The ETP group demonstrated lower 5-year OS compared with the non-ETP group in the chemotherapy alone group (0 vs 12.6%, P=0.045), whereas no significant difference was found between the ETP and non-ETP groups in the allo-HSCT group (75.0% vs 62.9%, P=0.852). Multivariate analysis revealed that high serum lactate dehydrogenase level, without transplantation, and no CR after chemotherapy induction were independently associated with inferior outcomes (P<0.05) . Conclusion: Allo-HSCT could be an effective consolidation therapy for adult and adolescent patients with T-ALL/LBL. Different donor sources did not affect survival. Allo-HSCT may overcome the adverse influence of ETP-ALL/LBL on OS.

Dose-enhanced immunochemotherapy followed by first-line autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation for young patients with high-risk aggressive B-cell lymphoma: an efficacy and prognostic factor analysis / 中华血液学杂志

Objective: This study aimed to determine the efficacy of dose-enhanced immunochemotherapy followed by autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (ASCT) in young patients with newly diagnosed high-risk aggressive B-cell lymphoma. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted to examine the clinical and survival data of young patients with high-risk aggressive B-cell lymphoma who received dose-enhanced immunochemotherapy and ASCT as first-line treatment between January 2011 and December 2018 in Blood Diseases Hospital. Results: A total of 63 patients were included in the study. The median age range was 40 (14-63) years old. In terms of the induction therapy regimen, 52 cases received R-DA-EP (D) OCH, and the remaining 11 received R-HyperCVAD/R-MA. Sixteen (25.4% ) patients achieved partial response in the mid-term efficacy assessment, and ten of them were evaluated as complete response after transplantation. The median follow-up was 50 (8-112) months, and the 3-year progression-free survival (PFS) rate and overall survival (OS) rate were (83.9±4.7) % and (90.4±3.7) % , respectively. Univariate analysis demonstrated that age-adjusted international prognostic index ≥2 scores was a negative prognostic factor for OS (P=0.039) , and bone marrow involvement (BMI) was an adverse prognostic factor for OS (P<0.001) and PFS (P=0.001) . However, multivariate analysis confirmed that BMI was the only independent negative predictor of OS (P=0.016) and PFS (P=0.001) . Conclusions: The use of dose-enhanced immunochemotherapy in combination with ASCT as first-line therapy in the treatment of young, high-risk aggressive B-cell lymphoma results in good long-term outcomes, and BMI remains an adverse prognostic factor.

Deubiquitinating Enzyme USP29 Regulates the Protein Stability of CBX6 / 中国生物化学与分子生物学报

Polycomb group (PcG) proteins are transcriptional repressors that control cell fate and the development of embryo, and they elicit function mainly in the form of polycomb repressive complex (PRC). Chromobox protein homolog 6 (CBX6) is one of the core protein subunits of PRC1, which plays an important role in gene expression regulation, cell renewal and differentiation, tumorigenesis and development, and stem cell maintenance. In this study, CBX6 was found to be degraded through a ubiquitin-proteasome dependent pathway. Then the gene expression library containing 92 deubiquitinating enzymes (DUB) was used to screen DUB targeting CBX6 and results found that ubiquitin-specific protease 29 (USP29) could obviously stabilize CBX6 protein level and extend its half-life (P < 0.05). Immunoprecipitation experiments found that CBX6 interacted with USP29 through its C-terminal domains; Further studies found that USP29 regulated the protein stability of CBX6 by deubiquitination in an enzymatic-activity dependent manner. Cell proliferation assay also found that USP29 inhibited the proliferation of MCF7 cells (P<0.0001). Taken together, through screening, this study found that USP29 could stabilize CBX6 protein level through deubiquitinating CBX6 and inhibit the cell proliferation of MCF7.

The prognostic significance of POD24 in 106 cases with splenic marginal lymphoma with bone marrow invasion / 中华血液学杂志

Objective: To explore the effect of progression of disease within 24 months (POD24) on overall survival (OS) of splenic marginal lymphoma (SMZL) with bone marrow invasion, and to compare the clinical characteristics between POD24 SMZL with non-POD24 SMZL patients. Methods: The SMZL patients with bone marrow invasions were retrospectively analyzed between January 2002 and January 2017 treated in our institute, and the patients with sufficient follow-up time to judge POD24 were evaluated the clinical characteristics and prognosis, patients who died of non-progressive factors were excluded. Results: 106 patients were enrolled with a median age of 57 (25-79) years old. ①Clinical characteristics: All patients presented with bone marrow invasion and splenomegaly, 59.4% (63/106) with huge spleen, 14.8% (15/101) with hepatomegaly. Complex karyotype were found in 22.7% (18/79) patients; 13q deletion, 11q (ATM) deletion, 17p (TP53) deletion, and CEP12 abnormality patients presented with the percentage of 5.1% (4/78) , 1.3% (1/72) , 2.5% (2/80) , and 7.5% (4/53) , respectively.②Survival analysis: Univariate analysis showed that POD24, HGB less than 100 g/L and FISH detection of trisomy 12 were poor prognostic factors of OS. Multivariate analysis showed that only POD24 had independent prognostic significance[HR=20.116 (95%CI 2.226-181.820) , P=0.008]. ③Subgroup features: Patients with POD24 had significantly higher rates of mediastinal lymphadenopathy (63.6%vs 18.9%, P=0.005) and complex karyotype (50.0%vs 17.9%, P=0.024) than those without POD24. While the incidence of abdominal lymphadenopathy, anemia, thrombocytopenia, the lower albumin, and the increasing lactate dehydrogenase were higher in POD24 patients, but with no statistically difference. Conclusion: POD24 is an independent prognostic factor of the OS in SMZL. SMZL patients with mediastinal lymphadenopathy and complex karyotypes when diagnosed have a higher risk of POD24.

Prognostic factors in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients with 1q21 amplification/gain treated with bortezomib-based regimens followed by autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation / 中华血液学杂志

Objective: To explore the prognostic factors in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (NDMM) patients with 1q21 amplification/gain treated with bortezomib-based regimens followed by autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (ASCT) . Methods: We retrospectively assayed 35 NDMM patients with 1q21 amplification/gain who received bortezomib-based chemotherapy followed by ASCT and maintenance therapy between January 2008 and August 2015. Results: ①The median age of 35 patients were 49(33-63)years old. Ratio of male to female was 22∶13. Monosomy1q21 amplification/gain was only seen in 3(8.6%) patients, the other 32 patients were with additional cytogenetic abnormalities including 13q14 deletion, t(11,14), t(4,14), t(14,16), 17p deletion and complex karyotype aberrations. ②The complete remission (CR) rate was 57.0% (20/35), the very good partial remission(VGPR) rate was 37.1%(13/35) and the partial remission (PR) rate was 5.7%(2/35) after ASCT. At a median follow-up of 24 (8-85) months, 3-year estimated progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) rate were (66.5±9.7)% and (69.6±9.9)%, respectively. ③As 13 patients with high-risk cytogenetic abnormalities, the median PFS and OS time was 26 and 28 months. The 3-year estimated PFS and OS was (28.0±15.9)% and (36.5±16.4)%, respectively. Another 22 patients without other high-risk cytogenetic abnormalities, the median PFS and OS time was 54 months and not reached. The 3-year estimated PFS and OS was (71.5±12.7)% and (92.3±7.4)% in this group, respectively. The presence of additional other high-risk cytogenetic abnormalities resulted in significantly shortened PFS (χ(2)=5.404, P=0.020) and OS (χ(2)=7.596, P=0.006) compared with no high-risk cytogenetic patients. Conclusion: NDMM patients with isolated1q21 amplification/gain were rarely and usually had additional other cytogenetic abnormalities. The outcomes in this group treated with bortezomib-based chemotherapy followed by ASCT and maintenance therapy were satisfied, additional other high-risk cytogenetic abnormalities made PFS and OS further shortened.

Clinical analysis of 24 patients of hairy cell leukemia treated by cladribine / 中华血液学杂志

Objective: To investigate the curative effect of hairy cell leukemia by clatabine. Methods: The clinical data of 24 patients with hairy cell leukemia treated by cladribine from November 2006 to October 2017 were analyzed retrospectively, then the curative effect and adverse drug reaction were analyzed. Results: ① A total of 24 patients including 22 male and 2 female, and the median age was 49.5 years (range 33 to 76) at diagnosis. There were 20 patients with of splenomegaly (4 patients with mild splenomegaly, 4 moderate splenomegaly, and 12 massive splenomegaly), 3 patients with enlargement of lymph nodes, and 1 patients who had undergone splenectomy. Five patients were pancytopenia, 15 were cytopenia in 2 lineages, and 4 patients were cytopenia only in one lineage. The median ratio of HCL cells detected by flow cytometry in bone marrow was 21.79% (0.69%-68.96%). BRAF mutation was detected in 15 patients by first generation or next generation sequencing technology. ② Among 24 patients, 20 were treated with cladribine alone (one course in 19 patients, 2 courses in 1 patient), and 4 patients were treated with cladribine combined with rituximab (one course in 3 patients, 2 courses in 1 patient). Excepting 5 patients whose follow-up time was not reaching 6 months, 19 patients were evaluated for efficacy in 6-12 months after treatment: 9 patients obtained CR, 9 obtained unconfirmed CR (Cru), the other 1 obtained PR, the CR/CRu rate was 94.7%, the overall response rate (ORR) was 100.0%. ③ All the 24 patients appeared 2-4 grade hematological adverse reactions after cladribine treatment, which were mainly grade 3/4 neutropenia (66.67%) and grade 3/4 thrombocytopenia (29.2%). All the adverse reactions were controlled or recovered spontaneously. ④ After the median follow-up time of 15 (3-133) months, no progression, recurrence or death occurred in the patients. Both median OS and PFS were not reached. Conclusion: This study suggests that treatment of HCL with cladribine has high response rate, controllable adverse reactions and the good prognosis.

Role of minimal residual disease detection by multiparameter flow cytometry in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma: an analysis of 106 patients / 中华血液学杂志

Objective: To assess the feasibility and prognostic value of the minimal residual disease (MRD) evaluated by multiparameter flow cytometry (MFC) in the newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (MM) patients of China. Methods: Clinical data of 106 consecutively newly diagnosed MM patients with MRD data were retrospectively analyzed in a single center in China from June 2013 to June 2015. Results: ① Of 106 patients, 48 (45.3%) achieved MRD negativity. The median time to MRD-negative was 3 months. More patients undergoing autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) achieved MRD negativity compared with non-ASCT patients (62.2% vs 36.2%, χ(2)=6.536, P=0.011). ② Of 48 patients in complete remission (CR), 7 (14.6%) was MRD positive, 5 of them showed disease progression (PD) during the follow-up, and 3 died. The median progression free survival (PFS) was 19 months, and the median overall survival (OS) was 28 months, both were significantly shorter than the CR patients with MRD-negative (P<0.05). ③At a median follow-up of 38 months, MRD-negative patients showed significantly superior outcomes compared with MRD positive ones, the PFS was not reach versus 17 months and the OS was not reach for both (P<0.001). Patients were grouped into 4 categories according to their MRD levels: 1% or higher, 0.1% to less than 1%, 0.01% to less than 0.1%, or negative. It showed that the outcomes (PFS and OS) tended to be improved along with the tumor depletion. ④ Multivariate prognostic analysis showed that MRD was a powerful independent prognostic factor for PFS[HR=0.133 (95% CI 0.062-0.288) , P<0.001] and OS[HR=0.156 (95% CI 0.050-0.484) , P=0.001]. According to MRD and cytogenetics, the patients were classified into 4 groups. High risk patients with MRD negative presented a significantly better outcome than high risk patients with MRD-positive, and a similar one to the standard risk patients with MRD-negative. Conclusions: MRD negativity by MFC was more popular in MM patients undergoing ASCT. MRD was an independent prognostic factor in MM. And the prognosis of MM patients can be stratified according to the level of MRD. MRD-negative patients with high risk cytogenetics presented a similar outcome to the standard risk ones. MRD by MFC should therefore be considered more widely applied in the clinic.

Characteristics and Prognostic Significance of Cytogenetic Abnormalities in Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma Patients with Bone Marrow Involvement / 中国实验血液学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the cytogenetic abnormalitis in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma(DLBCL) patients with bone marrow involvement and their influence on prognosis.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Conventional karyotyping was performed on bone marrow specimens in 47 DLBCL patients with histologically confirmed bone marrow involvement(BMI). The karyotyping results of bone marrow, the characteristics and clinical effect of chromosomal abnormalities were analysed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>In 47 DLBCL cases with BMI, the chromosomal abnormalities were detected in 25(53%) cases. Among them, complex karyotype was more frequent, being noted in 19(40%) patients. The most frequently involved chromosomes were chromosome 1 and 18(both 26%), others were chromosome 3(23%), 6(19%), 7, 8 and 14(13%). Among all karyotype changes, the most common numerical aberrations, in decreasing order of incidence, were trisomy 3(13%), trisomy 5, trisomy 7, trisomy 12, trisomy 18 and loss of 21(6%,each), and the most predominant structural aberrations, in decreasing order of incidence, were 1q+(17%), 1p+, 6q-, 8q+, 14q+, 18p+, 18q+ and aberrations involving band 2p21-p23 (6%,each). The prognostic impact analysis of both clinical features and cytogenetic aberrations revealed that IPI≥3 (P=0.03) or the presence of chromosomal abnormalities (P=0.005) were significantly related with poor progression free survival(PFS), and IPI≥3 (P=0.024), lactate dehydrogenase(LDH)≥ three times of the upper limit of normal (P=0.027) and the presence of chromosomal abnormalities (P=0.001) predominantly related with poor overall survival(OS). In multivariate analysis, the presence of chromosomal abnormalities was the only independently adverse factor for PFS(P=0.037, HR 2.323) and OS(P=0.015, HR 2.833). The analysis of prognostic effects of specific chromosomal aberrations showed that patients with specific cytogenetic abnormalities of 1q+, 8q+, +12, 12q+, 18p+ and aberrations involving band 2p21-23 had significantly poor PFS, and patients with specific cytogenetic abnormalities of 1q+, +3, +5, +7, 8q+, +12, 12q+ and aberrations involving band 2p21-23 had significantly poor OS. When the above mentioned specific chromosomal aberrations were analyzed with clinical covariate, the presence of chromosomal aberration of 8q+ (P=0.022, HR 2.701) and IPI≥3 (P=0.043, HR 2.949) were independently poor prognostic factors for PFS, and 1q+ (P=0.032, HR 2.973) was the independently poor prognostic factor for OS.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>In DLBCL patients with BMI, the presence of chromosomal abnormalities is the only independently poor factor for PFS and OS, and among them, the specific cytogenetic aberrations of 8q+ or 1q+ have an independently poor prognostic impact on PFS or OS, respectively, which need to be further studied.</p>

Clinical and laboratory features of T-cell prolymphocytic leukemia in China / 中华血液学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the clinical and laboratory characteristics and survival of Chinese patients with T- cell prolymphocytic leukemia (T-PLL).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Eleven patients with T-PLL admitted in our hospital from Jan 2006 to Oct 2012 were retrospectively analyzed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Of the 11 patients, nine were males and two females, with the median age of 56.0(19-69) years old. All the patients, except for three, presented with leukocytosis. The incidence of hyperleukocytosis (1/11) was less frequent than that in the British series (75%) (P=0.000). Lymphocyte counts in peripheral blood were increased in 9 of the 11 patients with the median absolute lymphocyte count (ALC) of 17.22(0.58-148.83)×10⁹/L. Superficial lymphadenopathy and splenomegaly were the most common physical signs. It was common that serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and beta 2 microglobulin(β2-MG)were higher than normal level. All cases were positive for CD2/CD3/CD5/TCRαβ, negative for CD1a /HLA-DR and TdT, and most of them were strong positive for CD7 expression. By chromosome analyses, most cases. (9/10) have normal chromosome. This rate is significantly higher than that of the British and American series (3% and 25%, respectively) (P=0.000, P=0.001). The 14q11 abnormality and trisomy 8q, which are common among Western cases, were not observed in any of our cases. With a median follow-up of 23.0 months, three patients died. Two year progress free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were 53.3% and 50%, respectively. There were 3 patients with PFS over a number of years, whether it should be considered as the T-chronic lymphocytic leukemia (T-CLL) is worthy of further studies.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The common clinical manifestations of T-PLL patients were increased lymphocyte counts and lymphadenopathy as well as splenomegaly. And most cases have high level of blood LDH and β2- MG and normal chromosome karyotype.</p>