[The Efficacy and Safety of Venetoclax Combined with Azacitidine in the Treatment of Adult Patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia Who Are Unfit for Intensive Chemotherapy].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the clinical efficacy and safety of venetoclax (VEN) combined with azacitidine (AZA) in the treatment of adult acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients who are unfit for intensive chemotherapy. METHODS: The clinical data of 21 adult patients with unfit AML who were treated with VEN combined with AZA in the Second Hospital of Shanxi Medical University from January 2021 to May 2022 were collected, and the efficacy and safety were analyzed retrospectively. RESULTS: After one course of treatment with VEN and AZA, 16 out of 21 unfit AML patients reached complete remission (CR)/CR with incomplete hematologic recovery (CRi), 2 patients reached partial remission (PR), the overall response rate (ORR) was 85.7%. Among the 16 patients with CR/CRi, 13 achieved minimal residual disease (MRD) negativity. Among the 11 patients with adverse prognosis, 8 achieved CR/CRi. By the deadline of follow-up, the median overall suivival (OS) of the entire cohort was not reached, with 1-year OS rate of 61.7%. The main adverse events of VEN combined with AZA were myelosuppression, gastrointestinal reactions and infections. There were 13 cases of leukopenia, 7 cases of neutropenia, 7 cases of anemia, 4 cases of thrombocytopenia, and these hematologic adverse events were all grade 3-4. There were 11 cases with gastrointestinal reactions and 7 cases with infections. The above adverse events were controllable and tolerable. No tumor lysis syndrome or infection related death occurred. CONCLUSION: VEN combined with AZA can quickly achieve deep remission in adult patients with unfit AML, and it shows a good safety profile.

Corrigendum: Association between diagnostic efficacy of acoustic radiation force impulse for benign and malignant thyroid nodules and the presence or absence of non-papillary thyroid cancer: A meta-analysis.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2023.1007464.].

Association between diagnostic efficacy of acoustic radiation force impulse for benign and malignant thyroid nodules and the presence or absence of non-papillary thyroid cancer: A meta-analysis.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the diagnostic efficacy of Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse (ARFI) for benign and malignant thyroid nodules in the presence and absence of non-papillary thyroid cancer (NPTC) and to determine the cut-off values of Shear Wave Velocity (SWV) for the highest diagnostic efficacy of Virtual Touch Quantification (VTQ) and Virtual Touch Tissue Imaging and Quantification (VTIQ). Methods: The diagnostic accuracy of ARFI for benign and malignant thyroid nodules was assessed by pooling sensitivity, specificity and area under the curve (AUC) in each group in the presence and absence of both non-papillary thyroid glands, using histology and cytology as the gold standard. All included studies were divided into two groups according to VTQ and VTIQ, and each group was ranked according to the magnitude of the SWV cutoff value to determine the SWV cutoff interval with the highest diagnostic efficacy for VTQ and VTIQ. Results: A total of 57 studies were collected on the evaluation of ARFI for the diagnosis of benign and malignant thyroid nodules. The results showed that the presence of non-papillary thyroid carcinoma led to differences in the specificity of VTIQ for the identification of benign and malignant thyroid nodules, and the differences were statistically significant. In addition, the diagnostic efficacy of VTQ was best when the cutoff value of SWV was in the interval of 2.48-2.55 m/s, and the diagnostic efficacy of VTIQ was best when the cutoff value of SWV was in the interval of 3.01-3.15 m/s. Conclusion: VTQ and VTIQ have a high diagnostic value for benign and malignant thyroid nodules; however, when the malignant nodules in the study contain non-papillary thyroid carcinoma occupying the thyroid gland, the findings should be viewed in a comprehensive manner.

Autonomous sensing of the insulin peptide by an olfactory G protein-coupled receptor modulates glucose metabolism.

Along with functionally intact insulin, diabetes-associated insulin peptides are secreted by ß cells. By screening the expression and functional characterization of olfactory receptors (ORs) in pancreatic islets, we identified Olfr109 as the receptor that detects insulin peptides. The engagement of one insulin peptide, insB:9-23, with Olfr109 diminished insulin secretion through Gi-cAMP signaling and promoted islet-resident macrophage proliferation through a ß cell-macrophage circuit and a ß-arrestin-1-mediated CCL2 pathway, as evidenced by ß-arrestin-1-/- mouse models. Systemic Olfr109 deficiency or deficiency induced by Pdx1-Cre+/-Olfr109fl/fl specifically alleviated intra-islet inflammatory responses and improved glucose homeostasis in Akita- and high-fat diet (HFD)-fed mice. We further determined the binding mode between insB:9-23 and Olfr109. A pepducin-based Olfr109 antagonist improved glucose homeostasis in diabetic and obese mouse models. Collectively, we found that pancreatic ß cells use Olfr109 to autonomously detect self-secreted insulin peptides, and this detection arrests insulin secretion and crosstalks with macrophages to increase intra-islet inflammation.

Screening and predicting progression from high-risk mild cognitive impairment to Alzheimer's disease.

Individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) are clinically heterogeneous, with different risks of progression to Alzheimer's disease. Regular follow-up and examination may be time-consuming and costly, especially for MRI and PET. Therefore, it is necessary to identify a more precise MRI population. In this study, a two-stage screening frame was proposed for evaluating the predictive utility of additional MRI measurements among high-risk MCI subjects. In the first stage, the K-means cluster was performed for trajectory-template based on two clinical assessments. In the second stage, high-risk individuals were filtered out and imputed into prognosis models with varying strategies. As a result, the ADAS-13 was more sensitive for filtering out high-risk individuals among patients with MCI. The optimal model included a change rate of clinical assessments and three neuroimaging measurements and was significantly associated with a net reclassification improvement (NRI) of 0.246 (95% CI 0.021, 0.848) and integrated discrimination improvement (IDI) of 0.090 (95% CI - 0.062, 0.170). The ADAS-13 longitudinal models had the best discrimination performance (Optimism-corrected concordance index = 0.830), as validated by the bootstrap method. Considering the limited medical and financial resources, our findings recommend follow-up MRI examination 1 year after identification for high-risk individuals, while regular clinical assessments for low-risk individuals.

[Clinical Efficacy of Modified BU/CY as Conditioning Regimen Combined with Autologous Peripheral Blood Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation in Young Acute Myeloid Leukemia Patients with Low or Intermediate Risk].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the safety and efficacy of autologous peripheral blood hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (auto-PBHSCT) using modified BU/CY conditioning regimen for young AML patients of low and middle risk in the first complete remission (CR1). METHODS: Ten young AML patients of low and middle risk who did not want to accept allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation（allo-HSCT）and underwent auto-PBHSCT in CR1 during May 2013 to December 2016 were retrospectively analyzed. From 3 months after auto-PBHSCT, the maintenance therapy with interleukin-2 (IL-2) or IL-2 combined with histamine dihydrochloride was performed for these patients in the next 18 months. The side effects of the conditioning regimen, hematopoietic recovery time, transplant-related mortality (TRM) within 100 days and 1 year after auto-PBHSCT, relapse rate, leukemia-free survival (LFS) rate at 2 years and 3 years, overall survival (OS) were evaluated at 3 years and 4 years. RESULTS: Gastrointestinal side effects were the major non-hematologic toxicity reaction, among which, 7 cases relatively mild and 3 cases displayed moderate, just one case suffered from severe reaction. In 4 cases, the mild liver damage occurred, but no hemorrhagic cystitis occurred. All the patients experienced different kinds of infection, including 5 cases of bloodstream infection, 2 cases of gastrointestinal infection, 3 cases of crissum infection and 2 cases of oral infection. The myeloablative effect occurred in all ten patients. The median times for absolute neutrophil count (ANC)<0.5×109/L and for platelet count <20.0×109/L were 1.5 (0-3) days and 3 (2-5) days after transplantation, respectively. The patients achieved ANC>0.5×109/L at 10 to 19 days, median was 13 days after auto-PBHSCT. The patients achieved platelet count >20×109/L at 10 to 72 days; median was 32 days after auto-PBHSCT. The TRM within 100 days and 1 year after transplantation was 0. The relapse occurred in 2 cases at 6 and 14 months after auto-PBHSCT raspectively. The median follow-up time was 48.1 months, and the median survival time was 54.7 months after transplantation. The 2-year and 3-year LFS were 100% (10 cases) and 80% (8 cases), respectively. The 3-year and 4-year OS were 80% (8 cases) and 70% (7 cases), respectively. CONCLUSION: Modified BU/CY as conditioning regimen for auto-PBHSCT can achieve the myeloablative effect without raising TRM and obtain good LFS and OS. As for young AML patients without high risk, it is a valuable therapeutic option, especially for those lacking the chance of allo-HSCT.

[Expression of CD25 in acute B cell lymphoblastic leukemia and its clinical significance].

This study was purposed to investigate the relation of CD25 with the acute B cell lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) and its clinical significance. A totol of 88 newly diagnosed B-ALL patients were enrolled in this study. The immunophenotype of leukemic myeloblasts were detected by flow cytometry, including interleukin 2 receptor α chain (CD25), ß chain (CD122), γ chain (CD132), CD19, CD20, CD10, CD34, CDIgM, CD79a, CD22 and CDTDT. The expression of BCR/ABL fusion gene was detected by qualitative PCR. The expression of IL2RA (CD25 gene) was detected by real-time qualitative RT-PCR. The results showed that there was no significant statistical difference in WBC count, Hb level, PLT count, marrow blast rate, peripheral blast rate, hepato-lienal infiltration, lymph node infiltration, levels of CD10, CD20, CD22, CD34, CD79a, CDTDT, CDIgM expression between B-ALL patients with CD25(+) and B-ALL patients with CD25(-), while the CD19 expression level in B-ALL patients with CD25(+) was higher than that in B-ALL patients with CD25(-). Out of 88 B-ALL patients, 21 patients showed BCR/ABL(+)(21/88) and their CD25(+) expression level was 66.7% (14/21); 67 patients showed BCR/ABL(-) and their CD25(+) expression level was 4.5% (3/67), there was statistical difference between these two groups (P < 0.05), but the expression level of IL2RA mRNA was not statistical different between CD25(+) and CD25(-) groups (P > 0.05). Among 21 BCR/ABL(+) B-ALL patients the remission rate and relapsed rate were not statistical different between CD25(+) an CD25(-) groups.In BCR/ABL(+) B-ALL patients 8 patients relapsed, the relapsed rate was 38.1% (8/21). In BCR/ABL(-) B-ALL patients 9 patients relapsed, the relapse rate was 13.4% (9/67), there was statistical difference between BCR/ABL(+) and BCR/ABL(-) two groups (P < 0.05). In BCR/ABL(+) group the RFS (relapse free survival) was 21 months, in BCR/ABL(+) CD25(+) patients the RFS was 15 months, while in BCR/ABL(+) CD25(-) patients the RFS was 21 months, in BCR/ABL(-) CD25(-) patients, the RFS was 24 months. It is concluded that the CD25 expresses at high level in B-ALL patients with BCR/ABL(+), which may serve as a predictive marker for the presence of BCR/ABL fusion gene, and relates with relapse, CD25(+) may serve as a adjuvant indicator for poor prognosis.

[Detection of CCAAT/enhancer binding protein alpha gene mutations in acute myeloid leukemia].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the relationship between CCAAT/enhancer binding protein alpha (C/EBPalpha) gene mutations and the development of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). METHODS: The whole coding region of C/EBPalpha gene were screened in 48 cases of AML and 11 normal subjects by PCR-single strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) and sequencing. RESULTS: C/EBPalpha mutations were detected in 5 of 48 AML patients. Four duplications and 1 deletion were confirmed by DNA sequencing. All of those are newly identified mutations. CONCLUSIONS: Different mutation types of C/EBPalpha gene exist in a small number of patients with AML and might be related to the pathogenesis of some leukemias.