Haematologica
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Acute myeloid leukemia is a life-threatening disease associated with high mortality rates. A substantial number of patients require intensive care. This investigation analyzes risk factors predicting admission to the intensive care unit in patients with acute myeloid leukemia eligible for induction chemotherapy, the outcome of these patients, and prognostic factors predicting their survival. ⋯ Ongoing infections, low fibrinogen and comorbidity are predictive for intensive care unit admission in acute myeloid leukemia. Although admission was a risk factor for survival, continuous complete remission and survival of patients alive at day 30 were similar in patients who were admitted or not admitted to an intensive care unit.
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In our efforts to develop novel effective treatment regimens for multiple myeloma we evaluated the potential benefits of combining the immunomodulatory drug lenalidomide with daratumumab. Daratumumab is a novel human CD38 monoclonal antibody which kills CD38+ multiple myeloma cells via antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity, complement-dependent cytotoxicity and apoptosis. ⋯ Our results indicate that powerful and complementary effects may be achieved by combining lenalidomide and daratumumab in the clinical management of multiple myeloma.
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Optimal lymphocyte parameters and thresholds for the diagnosis of chronic lymphocytic leukemia have been proposed by The National Cancer Institute sponsored Working Group and recently updated by the International Workshop on chronic lymphocytic leukemia. However, it is not clear how these criteria apply to patient management in daily clinical practice and whether the lymphocyte thresholds recommended truly predict clinical outcome in early chronic lymphocytic leukemia. ⋯ Our results, based on a retrospective patients' cohort, provide a clear justification to retain the B-cell count as the reference gold standard of chronic lymphocytic leukemia diagnosis and imply that a count of 10×10(9)/L B cells is the best lymphocyte threshold to predict time to first treatment. The use of clinical outcome to distinguish chronic lymphocytic leukemia from other premalignant conditions, such as monoclonal B-cell lymphocytosis, is a pragmatic approach meeting the patients' need to minimize the psychological discomfort of receiving a diagnosis of leukemia when the risk of adverse clinical consequences is low.