European journal of haematology
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Thrombocytopenia is an independent adverse prognostic factor in patients with Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). Azacitidine, first-line treatment for the majority of patients with higher-risk MDS, is associated with aggravated thrombocytopenia during the first cycles. Eltrombopag is a novel thrombopoietin receptor agonist, which also has been shown to inhibit proliferation of leukaemia cell lines in vitro. This phase I clinical trial was designed to explore the safety and tolerability of combining eltrombopag with azacitidine in patients with MDS. In addition, we assessed the potential effects of eltrombopag on hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) from included patients. ⋯ The combination of eltrombopag with azacitidine in high-risk MDS patients is feasible and well tolerated. Improvements in platelet counts and the potential antileukaemic effect of eltrombopag should be explored in a randomised study.
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Invasive fungal diseases (IFDs) are an important cause of morbidity and mortality in patients undergoing allogeneic stem cell transplantation (SCT). ⋯ Our results suggest that both prophylactic regimens, POS and POS-MIC are feasible, safe and effective. Our data suggest that bridging with intravenous micafungin could indeed improve exposure to antifungal prophylaxis, which may explain the reduced incidence of pneumonia and IFD in the bridging group.
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Comparative Study
Comparison of outcomes after autologous stem cell transplantation between myeloma patients with skeletal and soft tissue plasmacytoma.
We aimed to compare the characteristics of skeletal and soft tissue plasmacytomas and to analyze clinical outcomes and prognostic factors of autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) in multiple myeloma (MM) patients with plasmacytoma. We retrospectively reviewed data from 93 myeloma patients with detectable extramedullary (EM) plasmacytoma at diagnosis or during the course of the disease, who underwent ASCT. Soft tissue plasmacytoma occurred more frequently in male patients and had higher levels of serum β2-microglobulin and lactate dehydrogenase and high frequency of advanced disease according to International Staging System compared to the skeletal plasmacytoma group. ⋯ Compared to patients with skeletal plasmacytoma, patients with soft tissue plasmacytoma had worse median progression-free survival (PFS) (12 vs. 28 months) (P = 0.001) and overall survival (OS) (37 vs. 67 months) (P = 0.037) after ASCT. In a multivariate analysis, soft tissue plasmacytoma was an only independent poor prognostic factor for both PFS (HR, 2.398; 95% CI, 1.304-4.410) and OS (HR, 2.811; 95% CI, 1.107-7.135) after ASCT. These results demonstrate that, even though ASCT achieved a strong response in myeloma patients with soft tissue plasmacytoma, the presence of EM disease still contributed to a poor prognosis after ASCT compared to skeletal plasmacytoma, and these poor outcomes were not overcome by ASCT.