Multi-center study of COVID-19 infection in elderly patients with lymphoma: on behalf of Jiangsu Cooperative Lymphoma Group (JCLG).

Elderly patients with lymphoproliferative diseases (LPD) are vulnerable to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. Here, we retrospectively described the clinical features and outcomes of the first time infection of Omicron SARS-CoV-2 in 364 elderly patients with lymphoma enrolled in Jiangsu Cooperative Lymphoma Group (JCLG) between November 2022 and April 2023 in China. Median age was 69 years (range 60-92). 54.4% (198/364) of patients were confirmed as severe and critical COVID-19 infection. In univariable analysis, Age > 70 years (OR 1.88, p = 0.003), with multiple comorbidities (OR 1.41, p = 0.005), aggressive lymphoma (OR 2.33, p < 0.001), active disease (progressive or relapsed/refractory, OR 2.02, p < 0.001), and active anti-lymphoma therapy (OR 1.90, p < 0.001) were associated with severe COVID-19. Multiple (three or more) lines of previous anti-lymphoma therapy (OR 3.84, p = 0.021) remained an adverse factor for severe COVID-19 in multivariable analysis. Moreover, CD20 antibody (Rituximab or Obinutuzumab)-based treatments within the last 6 months was associated with severe COVID-19 in the entire cohort (OR 3.42, p < 0.001). Continuous BTK inhibitors might be protective effect on the outcome of COVID-19 infection (OR 0.44, p = 0.043) in the indolent lymphoma cohort. Overall, 7.7% (28/364) of the patients ceased, multiple lines of previous anti-lymphoma therapy (OR 3.46, p = 0.016) remained an adverse factor for mortality.

The clinical significance and prognostic value of serum beta-2 microglobulin in adult lymphoma-associated hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis: a multicenter analysis of 326 patients.

To investigate the prognostic impact of serum beta-2 microglobulin (B2M) in adult lymphoma-associated hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH). The clinical and laboratory characteristics of 326 adult patients in a multicenter cohort with lymphoma-associated HLH with available baseline serum B2M levels were retrospectively analyzed. A total of 326 cases were included in this study, and the median serum B2M level was 5.19 mg/L. The optimal cut-off of serum B2M was 8.73 mg/L, and the cases with serum B2M level >8.73 mg/L were older and had a more advanced stage, lower levels of platelets, albumin, and fibrinogen, and higher creatinine level. The serum B2M >8.73 mg/L, creatinine ≥133 µmol/L, fibrinogen ≤1.5 g/L, agranulocytosis (<0.5 × 109/L), severe thrombocytopenia (<50 × 109/L), and high Epstein-Barr virus DNA copy number were found to have independent prognostic values in all patients, and the serum B2M >8.73 mg/L was also an independent prognostic factor in patients with creatinine <133 µmol/L. Finally, a prognostic scoring system was established based on independent prognostic factors of all patients and categorized the patients into three groups with significant prognostic differences. This study confirmed that the serum B2M level can be an independent prognostic factor in lymphoma-associated HLH and established a prognostic scoring system to predict patients' survival.

Case Report: Identification of a novel LYN::LINC01900 transcript with promyelocytic phenotype and TP53 mutation in acute myeloid leukemia.

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a malignant disease of myeloid hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells characterized by the abnormal proliferation of primitive and naive random cells in the bone marrow and peripheral blood. Acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) is a type (AML-M3) of AML. Most patients with APL have the characteristic chromosomal translocation t(15; 17)(q22; q12), forming PML::RARA fusion. The occurrence and progression of AML are often accompanied by the emergence of gene fusions such as PML::RARA, CBFß::MYH11, and RUNX1::RUNX1T1, among others. Gene fusions are the main molecular biological abnormalities in acute leukemia, and all fusion genes act as crucial oncogenic factors in leukemia. Herein, we report the first case of LYN::LINC01900 fusion transcript in AML with a promyelocytic phenotype and TP53 mutation. Further studies should address whether new protein products may result from this fusion, as well as the biological function of these new products in disease occurrence and progression.

Prognostic value of the albumin-globulin ratio and albumin-globulin score in patients with multiple myeloma.

OBJECTIVE: The albumin-globulin ratio (AGR) has been identified as a promising prognostic predictor of mortality in patients with hematological malignancies. This study investigated the prognostic significance of AGR in patients with multiple myeloma. METHODS: Two hundred patients diagnosed with multiple myeloma from January 2010 to October 2018 were retrospectively analyzed and followed up until December 2019. Kaplan-Meier curves and multivariate Cox regression analysis were applied to detect the prognostic value of AGR. RESULTS: The median follow-up period was 36 months. The optimal cutoff of AGR was 1.16 according to receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. High AGR was significantly correlated with better overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS). Multivariate analysis revealed that low AGR was an independent prognostic factor for worse OS (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.82, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.15-2.94) and PFS (HR = 1.53, 95% CI = 1.09-2.17). CONCLUSIONS: AGR may represent a potential prognostic biomarker in patients with multiple myeloma.Mini Abstract: We demonstrated that high AGR was associated with a favorable overall survival and progression-free survival in patients with multiple myeloma.

Wogonin induces apoptosis and endoplasmic reticulum stress in HL-60 leukemia cells through inhibition of the PI3K-AKT signaling pathway.

Wogonin is a flavonoid isolated from Scutellaria baicalensis root and has multiple pharmacological effects, including anticancer effects. Recent studies have shown that wogonin induces cell cycle arrest and reverses multi-drug resistance in the human K562 leukemia cell line. However, its pharmacological function in the apoptosis of leukemia cells remains unknown. Therefore, we hypothesized that wogonin can induce apoptosis in the HL-60 leukemia cell line. In the present study, the HL-60 cells were treated with different doses of wogonin (0-150 µM). Wogonin inhibited the viability of HL-60 cells in a dose-dependent and time-dependent manner. Flow cytometry and analyses of caspase and PARP-1 activation and the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio, demonstrated that the cytotoxic effect of wogonin on HL-60 cells was mediated by caspase-dependent and mitochondrial-dependent apoptosis. Wogonin also induced the expression of certain members of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress pathway (CHOP, GRP94 and GRP78) and the activation of multiple branches of ER stress transducers (IRE1α, PERK-eIF2α and ATF6) in the HL-60 cells. In addition, wogonin reduced the phosphorylation of PI3K and AKT in the HL-60 cells. Furthermore, constitutive activation of AKT induced by adenoviral vectors inhibited the pro-apoptotic effects and ER stress induced by wogonin in the HL-60 cells. In summary, our results indicated that wogonin induced apoptosis and ER stress in HL-60 cells, which was mediated by the inhibition of the PI3K-AKT signaling pathway.

Activation of Notch signal pathway is associated with a poorer prognosis in acute myeloid leukemia.

OBJECTIVE: Notch signal pathway plays a fundamental role in regulating haematopoietic development. It is also an important mediator of growth and survival in several cancer types, with Notch pathway genes functioning as oncogenes or tumor suppressors in different cancers. However, the clinical role of Notch signal pathway in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) remains unclear. METHODS: To address this problem, we investigated the gene expression levels of Notch signal pathway members (Notch1, Jagged1 and Delta1) in bone marrow mononuclear cells by real-time quantitative PCR in a cohort of 100 patients with newly diagnosed de novo AML and normal marrow donors. The prognostic values of the three molecules in AML were also analyzed. RESULTS: Comparing with the normal controls, we show the transcriptional up-regulation of Notch1, Jagged1 and Delta1 in the bone marrow of AML patients with statistic differences (P = 0.008, 0.01 and 0.01, respectively). In addition, univariate analysis of factors associated with relapse-free survival and overall survival showed a significantly shorter survival in the patients with unfavorable karyotype, higher Notch1 expression, higher Jagged1 expression, or higher Delta1 expression. Moreover, Cox proportional hazards multivariate analysis of the univariate predictors identified karyotype and gene expression levels of Notch1, Jagged1 and Delta1 as independent prognostic factors for relapse-free survival and overall survival. Furthermore, the prognostic significance of Notch1, Jagged1 and Delta1 expression was more obvious in the subgroup of patients with intermediate-risk cytogenetics. CONCLUSION: Taken together, our data suggest for the first time that the activation of Notch pathway may indicate a poor prognosis in AML. Especially, Notch1, Jagged1 and Delta1 expression may be relevant prognostic markers in intermediate risk AML.