International journal of hematology
-
Dysfibrinogenemia is characterized by blood coagulation dysfunction induced by an abnormal molecular structure of fibrinogen. Here, we describe a new case. A 32-year-old female was suspected of having dysfibrinogenemia during routine laboratory screening, based on her decreased functional fibrinogen level, normal fibrinogen antigen level, and prolonged thrombin time. ⋯ Sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and western blot showed no difference. We report a new case with a mutation in the fibrinopeptide A region, AαGly13Arg. These results indicated that the functional abnormalities were related to delayed and defective fibrinopeptide A cleavage and likely impaired thrombin binding.
-
Elotuzumab is an immunostimulatory monoclonal antibody that binds to SLAMF7, a type-1 transmembrane protein expressed on myeloma and natural killer cells. We report a phase 1 study (NCT01241292) in which we evaluated the safety, efficacy and pharmacokinetics of elotuzumab combined with lenalidomide and dexamethasone in Japanese patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM). In 28-day cycles, patients received: elotuzumab (intravenously), lenalidomide (25 mg orally) and weekly dexamethasone (elotuzumab days: 28 mg orally plus 8 mg intravenously; non-elotuzumab days: 40 mg orally). ⋯ Three patients are still undergoing treatment, with responses maintained. Expression of SLAMF7 was immunohistochemically detected in all patients. We find that elotuzumab combined with lenalidomide and dexamethasone exhibited acceptable safety/tolerability in Japanese patients with RRMM, with durable efficacy.
-
Umbilical cord blood transplantation with a reduced-intensity conditioning regimen (RIC-UCBT) is used increasingly in patients who have comorbid organ functions and lack human leukocyte antigen-identical donors. We compared the outcomes in 35 patients who received mycophenolate mofetil plus cyclosporine (MMF/CSP, n = 17) or MMF plus tacrolimus (MMF/TAC, n = 18) for graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis after RIC-UCBT. Cumulative incidence of neutrophil engraftment was 94 and 89 % in MMF/CSP and MMF/TAC groups, respectively (p = 0.34). ⋯ Progression-free survival, non-relapse mortality, and relapse rate were comparable between the two groups (p = 0.76, 0.59, and 0.88, respectively). In multivariate analyses, MMF/TAC GVHD prophylaxis was closely associated with improved OS, but not with incidence of engraftment and acute GVHD. These results suggest that more intensive GVHD prophylaxis with MMF/TAC decreased acute GVHD without affecting other clinical outcomes, resulting in improved OS after RIC-UCBT.
-
Case Reports
Successful early romiplostim use in a case of severe immune thrombocytopenia with critical carotid arterial injury.
Thrombopoietin receptor (TPO-R) agonists have been shown to be effective in refractory chronic immune thrombocytopenia (ITP); however, their efficacy in patients under critical care is not known. We report the case of a female patient with a newly diagnosed ITP who experienced severe bleeding from an external wound. The patient was administered the standard treatments for ITP, which are high-dose intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) and corticosteroids. ⋯ The efficacy of TPO-R agonists in ITP has been reported in several situations, including before surgery in an ITP patient; however, the use of TPO-R for arterial bleeding with shock has not been reported. To our knowledge, the present article is a rare case report of the use of a TPO-R agonist in a patient with critical artery injury. Our data suggest that the early use of romiplostim is effective in emergency cases of newly diagnosed ITP with life-threatening bleeding, which is refractory to standard treatment.
-
Multicenter Study
Phase I dose escalation study of high dose carfilzomib monotherapy for Japanese patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.
We conducted a multicenter, open-label Phase I study of single-agent carfilzomib in Japanese patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. The primary endpoints were tolerability and safety. Carfilzomib was administrated for 30 min on days 1, 2, 8, 9, 15, and 16 of a 28-day cycle. ⋯ These findings suggest that addition of dexamethasone is important to alleviate acute dose effect. The overall response rates of the 20/45 mg/m2 and 20/56 mg/m2 cohort were 66.7 % (two out of three) and 50 % (two out of four), respectively. Carfilzomib administrated at up to 20/56 mg/m2 was well tolerated and seemed active in Japanese patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.