Validation of the FACT-G7 in patients with hematologic malignancies.

Background: It is essential to evaluate the quality of life in patients with hematologic malignancies to reflect the therapeutic effect and prognosis, but lengthy assessments are often burdensome. The 7-Item Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General (FACT-G7) is a brief, easy, and rapid index for evaluating quality of life. Nevertheless, there is no report about its application in Chinese patients with hematologic malignancies. Objective: The purpose of this study was to validate the Chinese version of the FACT-G7 for patients with hematologic malignancies. Methods: This study is a cross-sectional study. A total of 855 patients with hematologic malignancies completed the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General (FACT-G) and were scored the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status (ECOG-PS) by nurses. Cronbach's alpha, confirmatory factor analyses, Pearson's correlation, and one-way analysis of variance were conducted to evaluate internal consistent reliability, structural validity and concurrent validity. Results: The FACT-G7 showed acceptable internal consistency, as indicated by a Cronbach's alpha of 0.73. The confirmatory factor analyses test for single-factor model fit for the FACT-G7 scale was almost adequate. The satisfactory correlations between the FACT-G7 and the FACT-G and its subscales, and ECOG-PS groups differed in FACT-G7 scores demonstrating concurrent validity. Conclusion: This study suggested that the Chinese version of the FACT-G7 provides a useful and rapid measure for assessing quality of life in Chinese patients with hematologic malignancies, which providing a reference for further evaluation and care.

Red blood cells: a potential delivery system.

Red blood cells (RBCs) are the most abundant cells in the body, possessing unique biological and physical properties. RBCs have demonstrated outstanding potential as delivery vehicles due to their low immunogenicity, long-circulating cycle, and immune characteristics, exhibiting delivery abilities. There have been several developments in understanding the delivery system of RBCs and their derivatives, and they have been applied in various aspects of biomedicine. This article compared the various physiological and physical characteristics of RBCs, analyzed their potential advantages in delivery systems, and summarized their existing practices in biomedicine.

Construction and validation of a risk prediction model for perianal infection in patients with haematological malignancies during chemotherapy: a prospective study in a tertiary hospital in China.

OBJECTIVES: Perianal infection is a serious complication in patients undergoing chemotherapy for haematological malignancies. Therefore, we aimed to develop a predictive model to help medical staff promptly screen patients at a high risk of perianal infection during chemotherapy. DESIGN: This was a single-centre prospective observational study. SETTING: This study was conducted in a tertiary teaching hospital in Chengdu, China. PARTICIPANTS: The study sample comprised 850 patients with haematological malignancies who underwent chemotherapy at the department of haematology or our hospital between January 2021 and June 2022. INTERVENTIONS: The included patients were randomly divided into training and validation groups in a 7:3 ratio. Based on the discharge diagnosis, patients with perianal infection were selected as the case group and the other patients were selected as the control group. OUTCOME MEASURE: The main outcome measure was the occurrence of perianal infections. RESULTS: A predictive model for perianal infections was established. A history of perianal infection, haemorrhoids, constipation and duration of diarrhoea were independent risk factors. The area under the curve of the The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve for the training and validation groups were 0.784 (95% CI 0.727 to 0.841) and 0.789 (95% CI 0.818 to 0.885), respectively. Additionally, the model had good calibration in both the training and validation groups with a non-significant Hosmer-Lemeshow test (p=0.999 and 0.482, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The risk prediction model, including a history of perianal infection, history of haemorrhoids, constipation and duration of diarrhoea ≥3 days of perianal infection in patients with haematological malignancies during chemotherapy, has good prediction reliability and can be helpful in guiding clinical medical staff in screening and early intervention of high-risk groups.

Comparison of different concentrations of a povidone iodine-diluted sitz bath in the prevention of perianal infection in patients undergoing chemotherapy for hematological malignancy: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Infection is one of the most common causes of death in patients with hematological malignancies during chemotherapy. Due to its special location, local warmth and humidity, repeated pollution with stool and urine, and characteristically wrinkled anatomical structure within which bacteria can hide, the perianal becomes a site with a high incidence of infection. Such infection also has a high recurrence rate and high mortality, increasing the economic burden of patients, delaying the time of treatment and reducing the quality of life. In severe cases, sepsis occurs and endangers the patient's life. Previous studies have confirmed the effectiveness of povidone iodine (PI) in the prevention of perianal infection in patients with hematological malignancies during chemotherapy, but these reports have not documented in detail the adverse events associated with sitz bathing and the lack of randomized controlled trials of different concentrations of dilute povidone iodine sitz bathing. Therefore, the evidence is insufficient. Hence, the objective of this paper is to determine whether a povidone iodine diluent sitz bath can reduce the incidence of perianal infection compared with conventional perianal cleaning care and to observe the incidence of perianal infection, the severity of perianal infection, and the complications related to the sitz bath among groups treated with different concentrations of povidone iodine diluent, especially in high-risk patients prone to perianal infection, to screen for the optimal concentration. METHODS: The trial is designed as a single-center, parallel, randomized, controlled and intervention trial with four parallel groups, and a primary endpoint of perianal infection occurred after this hospitalization chemotherapy. Randomization will be performed as simple randomization with a 1:1:1:1 allocation. This study received full ethics committee approval. The first patient was enrolled on May 1, 2021. A total of 268 patients with hematological malignancies undergoing chemotherapy who have risk factors for perianal infection will be enrolled with informed consent and randomly allocated to one of the four arms receiving (1) perianal cleaning care (control group D), (2) 1:100 PI diluted sitz bath (intervention group A), (3) 1:200 PI diluted sitz bath (intervention group B), and (4) 1:300 PI diluted sitz bath (intervention group C). The primary endpoint of the trial was the incidence of perianal infection. The secondary endpoints of the study will be the results of anal swab bacterial culture, the severity of perianal infection, the incidence of perianal adverse events (dryness, peeling, pigmentation, burning sensation), and pain scores. The length of hospitalization in days and hospitalization expenses will be recorded. Safety will be assessed with consideration of all adverse and severe adverse events related to the study treatment. DISCUSSION: We hypothesized that patients with hematological malignancies during chemotherapy would benefit from a povidone iodine diluted sitz bath. This study will provide evidence-based recommendations for clinicians and nurses. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (registration ID: ChiCTR2000041073). Registered on December 17, 2020. The protocol version number is V1.0,20201217. http://www.chictr.org.cn/edit.aspx?pid=66044&htm=4.

Compassion satisfaction and compassion fatigue in haematology cancer nurses: A cross-sectional survey.

AIM: This study aimed to investigate compassion satisfaction (CS) and compassion fatigue (CF) in haematology nurses and their associated factors. DESIGN: A cross-sectional survey. METHODS: The survey was conducted on 336 haematology nurses from 21 hospitals in Sichuan, China. The CS and CF were assessed by the Professional Quality of Life Scale version 5. The CF was determined by burnout and secondary traumatic stress. RESULTS: Haematology nurses in China had moderate levels of CS and moderate-to-low CF. Better nursing competence of teaching/consultation and communication/coordination and the percentage of critically ill patients >60% predicted higher CS. The permanent nurse, better nursing competence of communication/coordination and specialized clinical practice predicted less burnout, while working >40 hr per week or more nurse-patient conflict events predicted more burnout. In addition, working >40 hr per week, more nurse-patient conflict events and having the need of psychological support predicted higher secondary traumatic stress.

Symptom clusters and quality of life in ambulatory patients with multiple myeloma.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to investigate symptom clusters and associated clinical factors in ambulatory multiple myeloma patients undergoing medication therapy. We also aimed to determine the correlations between symptom clusters and patient quality of life. METHODS: A total of 174 multiple myeloma patients hospitalized in the haematology day unit were included in this study. A cross-sectional survey was conducted to examine symptoms and quality of life. Symptoms were assessed by the Chinese version of the Condensed Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale. Quality of life was measured with the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General. Principal component analysis was used to identify symptom clusters. Independent-samples t tests and chi-square tests were used for comparisons between groups. Spearman's rank correlation analysis was used to identify correlations. RESULTS: We identified three symptom clusters in multiple myeloma patients: psychological; pain, dry mouth, and difficulty sleeping; and fatigue symptom cluster. For each symptom cluster, the patients could be categorized into a severe-symptom group or a mild-symptom group based on the distress of symptoms. The patients in each group exhibited differential demographic and clinical features. Symptom cluster distress was adversely correlated with patients' quality of life. CONCLUSIONS: Ambulatory multiple myeloma patients undergoing anticancer medication therapy experience multiple symptoms, which can be categorized into three symptom clusters. For each symptom cluster, level of distress was associated with patients' demographic and clinical characteristics. The presence and level of distress of these symptom clusters have adverse impacts on patients' quality of life.

The Correlation of Symptom Clusters and Functional Performance in Adult Acute Leukemia Patients Under Chemotherapy.

BACKGROUND: Adult acute leukemia (AL) patients who receive chemotherapy usually experience multiple symptoms during the treatment course. The symptom clusters (SCs) as well as subsets of concurrent symptoms in AL patients have not yet been demonstrated. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the SCs of adult AL patients who were receiving chemotherapy and to determine their correlations with functional performance. METHODS: A total of 132 hospitalized adult AL patients were included in this study. A cross-sectional survey aimed to examine symptoms and functional performance was conducted. The patients' symptoms were assessed using the Chinese version of the Condensed Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale, and functional performance was evaluated through activities of daily living and quality of life. RESULTS: We identified 4 SCs in adult AL patients: psychological SC, pain-fatigue-sleep SC, dry mouth-constipation SC, and nutrition-impaired SC. The psychological SC was the most common and most distressing SC. The different SCs were each differentially correlated with patient characteristics. The distress of the psychological SC, pain-fatigue-sleep SC, and nutrition-impaired SC was adversely correlated with functional performance. CONCLUSIONS: Adult AL patients undergoing chemotherapy experience multiple symptoms that can be further categorized into 4 SCs. The distress from some SCs is negatively associated with patients' functional performance. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Symptom burden remains a major problem for adult AL patients undergoing chemotherapy. Identifying SCs of AL patients should be the basis for accurate and cost-effective interventions. Personalized SC management may improve the functional performance and healthcare quality of adult AL patients.

Bone Marrow Fat and Hematopoiesis.

Bone marrow fat cells comprise the largest population of cells in the bone marrow cavity, a characteristic that has attracted the attention of scholars from different disciplines. The perception that bone marrow adipocytes are "inert space fillers" has been broken, and currently, bone marrow fat is unanimously considered to be the third largest fat depot, after subcutaneous fat and visceral fat. Bone marrow fat (BMF) acts as a metabolically active organ and plays an active role in energy storage, endocrine function, bone metabolism, and the bone metastasis of tumors. Bone marrow adipocytes (BMAs), as a component of the bone marrow microenvironment, influence hematopoiesis through direct contact with cells and the secretion of adipocyte-derived factors. They also influence the progression of hematologic diseases such as leukemia, multiple myeloma, and aplastic anemia, and may be a novel target when exploring treatments for related diseases in the future. Based on currently available data, this review describes the role of BMF in hematopoiesis as well as in the development of hematologic diseases.

High-expressing cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator interacts with histone deacetylase 2 to promote the development of Ph+ leukemia through the HDAC2-mediated PTEN pathway.

The aberrant expression or mutation of CFTR has been shown to be involved in several tumors, but how mutations or dysfunction of CFTR may increase the risk of malignancies in various tissues remains unclear. Here, we report the interaction between CFTR and HDAC2, and its involvement in the development of Ph+ leukemia. We first detected the physical interaction and co-localization of CFTR and HDAC2 in Ph+ leukemia cell lines. And treatment with CFTRinh-172, a CFTR inhibitor, reduced the expression of HDAC2 protein in K562 and SUP-B15 cells, which could be partially recovered by MG132, a proteasome inhibitor. Additionally, high expression levels of HDAC2 protein were observed in CFTR cDNA transfected HEK-293 and Ba/F3 cells. Next, we found that HDAC2 bound in the promoter region of the PTEN gene, and treatment with HDAC2 inhibitor or CFTRinh-172 resulted in an increase in PTEN mRNA and protein levels and a decrease in PDK1 and mTOR (downstream signaling of PTEN) activity. Finally, the MTT assay revealed that CFTRinh-172 could strengthen the anti-proliferation effect of HDAC2 inhibitor on Ph+ leukemia cells. Altogether, this study provides strong evidence that high-expression CFTR plays an important role in the development of Ph+ leukemia through the HDAC2-mediated PTEN pathway.

Lentivirus-mediated RNA interference reversing the drug-resistance in MDR1 single-factor resistant cell line K562/MDR1.

Multidrug-resistance (MDR) is a major hindrance to successful chemotherapy. The emergence of MDR is multi-factorial. Among them, the MDR1 gene/P-glycoprotein (P-gp) is a popular and important reason. In our study, an MDR1 single-factorial drug-resistant leukemia cell line K562/MDR1 was constructed via transferring full-length human MDR1 cDNA into drug-sensitive K562 cells. The short-hairpin RNA (shRNA) targeting MDR1 gene was transfected into K562/MDR1 cell lines by the replication-defective lentiviral vector derived from HIV-1. The efficiency of RNA interference (RNAi) to silence the MDR1 gene and reverse multidrug-resistance in the MDR1 single-factor drug-resistance cell line K562/MDR1 was evaluated. The multi-factor resistant cell line K562/A02, induced by doxorubicin exposure, was used as a control. After RNA interference, the expression of the MDR1 gene and P-gp in K562/MDR1 was markedly down-regulated and the drug sensitivity was restored as IC(50) values became similar to the K562 sensitive cell line. The expression of the MDR1 gene and P-gp in K562/A02 was markedly down-regulated too, and drug-resistance to anticancer drug is reduced to some extent but the IC(50) was significantly higher than that of the sensitive cell line. These results demonstrated that lentivirus-mediated RNAi could efficiently down-regulate the expression of MDR1 and Pgp, and successfully reverse a cell's resistance to chemotherapeutic. Due to only MDR1 resistance, the K562/MDR1 cell showed much high specificity and thus is a better cell model for MDR1/P-gp research.

[Comparison of the long term results between two conditioning regimens MCC and BuCy in chronic myelocytic leukemia after allogeneic stem cell transplantation].

OBJECTIVE: To observe and evaluate the long term survival of patients with chronic myelocytic leukemia transplanted with MCC and BuCy conditioning regimens. METHODS: Fourteen cases were treated with MCC regimen (Melphanlan 170 mg/m2 x d x 1, MeCCNU 400 mg/m2 x d x 1, CTX 60 mg/kg x d x 2) and the median follow up time was 6 years; 16 cases were treated with BuCy regimen (Busulfan 4 mg/kg x d x 4, CTX 60 mg/kg x d x 2) and the median follow up time was 4 year. RESULTS: All the patients were engrafted successfully. 4 of 10 patients examined in MCC group showed mixed chimerism at day 100 after transplantation, whereas only 1 of 12 patients examined in BuCy group showed mixed chimerism. All the patients became complete donor source later without any DLI. The 5-year disease-free survival rate was 71.4% for MCC group and 62.5% for BuCy group. The transplant related mortality and relapse rate were 21% and 7% for MCC group, whereas those were 25% and 12% for BuCy group, respectively. The regimen related toxicity was relatively lower in MCC group and the median duration of hospitalization was 39 days (25-55 days) for patients with MCC regimen, and 55 days (39-90 days) for BuCy regimen. CONCLUSION: MCC regimen has a partial ablative effect on CML and the long term disease-free survival is the same as that of BuCy regimen. In regard to the cost-effect efficacy, MCC regimen has a substantial advantage over BuCy regimen.