[Rinshō ketsueki] The Japanese journal of clinical hematology
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Half a century ago, the sedative thalidomide caused a serious drug disaster because of its teratogenicity and was withdrawn from the market. However, thalidomide, which has returned to the market, is now used for the treatment of leprosy and multiple myeloma (MM) under strict control. The mechanism of thalidomide action had been a long-standing question. ⋯ Ck1a breakdown explains why Len is specifically effective for myelodysplastic syndrome with 5q deletion. It is now proposed that binding of IMiDs to CRBN appears to alter the substrate specificity of CRBN-CRL4. In this review, we introduce recent findings on IMiDs.
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Case Reports
Development of myelofibrosis during eltrombopag treatment in a patient with immune thrombocytopenia.
Eltrombopag, a thrombopoietin (TPO) receptor agonist, is effective for treating refractory immune thrombocytopenia (ITP). However, the development of bone marrow fibrosis is a concern. A 78-year-old man was diagnosed with ITP in 2004. ⋯ At 8 months after initiating eltrombopag treatment, the patient underwent a bone marrow biopsy that showed grade 2 myelofibrosis. Hence, eltrombopag was discontinued. In our experience with this case indicates that careful observation is required while using TPO receptor agonists.