A randomized trial comparing ibrutinib plus rituximab with rituximab alone in patients with Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia showed significantly higher rates of progression-free survival and overall ...response with the addition of ibrutinib.
Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) is a generally fatal infection of the cerebrum by the JC virus. It occurs in a range of primary and secondary immunosuppressed states and has become ...more common with AIDS and increasing the use of immunosuppressive therapies. Recently, Ibrutinib, a Bruton's Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor (BTKi), has also been associated with PML. Here, we describe the case of a 77-year-old man treated for relapsed Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) with Ibrutinib, who eventually developed a fatal cerebellar granule cell variant of PML confirmed on autopsy. The case adds to the growing body of literature finding such an association with BTKis and highlights the importance of clinical vigilance in patients receiving such therapy.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
ABTRACT
This study investigates the way that experienced audit committee Chairs address barriers to effective performance. We conceptualize audit committees as groups of individuals gathering, ...elaborating, and sharing information, and identify key group barriers to effective audit committee oversight. Drawing on 24 interviews with audit committee Chairs from leading Australian-listed companies, we provide new evidence of the approaches used in practice to address information-processing barriers faced by audit committees. Specifically, we identify six key mechanisms: (1) audit committee composition; (2) pre-meetings; (3) handling of disagreements between management and auditors; (4) formal audit committee meeting facilitation; (5) promoting audit committee skepticism; and (6) external auditor selection. Our findings provide insights for audit committee members, audit partners, and policy-makers as they aim to improve financial reporting and audit quality. These findings also have important implications for research designs of future experimental research.
Peripheral T-cell lymphomas (PTCLs) are a heterogeneous group of haematological cancers with generally poor clinical outcomes. However, a subset of patients experience durable disease control, and ...little is known regarding long-term outcomes. The International T-cell Lymphoma Project (ITCLP) is the largest prospectively collected cohort of patients with PTCLs, providing insight into clinical outcomes at academic medical centres globally. We performed a long-term outcome analysis on patients from the ITCLP with available 10-year follow-up data (n = 735). The overall response rate to first-line therapy was 68%, while 5- and 10-year overall survival estimates were 49% and 40% respectively. Most deaths occurred prior to 5 years, and for patients alive at 5 years, the chance of surviving to 10 years was 84%. However, lymphoma remained the leading cause of death in the 5- to 10-year period (67%). Low-risk International Prognostic Index and Prognostic Index for T-cell lymphoma scores both identified patients with improved survival, while in multivariate analysis, age >60 years and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status 2-4 were associated with inferior outcomes. The favourable survival seen in patients achieving durable initial disease control emphasizes the unmet need for optimal front-line therapeutic approaches in PTCLs.
Background Current radiological assessments of .sup.18fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) imaging data in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) can be time consuming, do not ...yield real-time information regarding disease burden and organ involvement, and hinder the use of FDG-PET to potentially limit the reliance on invasive procedures (e.g. bone marrow biopsy) for risk assessment. Methods Our aim is to enable real-time assessment of imaging-based risk factors at a large scale and we propose a fully automatic artificial intelligence (AI)-based tool to rapidly extract FDG-PET imaging metrics in DLBCL. On availability of a scan, in combination with clinical data, our approach generates clinically informative risk scores with minimal resource requirements. Overall, 1268 patients with previously untreated DLBCL from the phase III GOYA trial (NCT01287741) were included in the analysis (training: n = 846; hold-out: n = 422). Results Our AI-based model comprising imaging and clinical variables yielded a tangible prognostic improvement compared to clinical models without imaging metrics. We observed a risk increase for progression-free survival (PFS) with hazard ratios HR of 1.87 (95% CI: 1.31-2.67) vs 1.38 (95% CI: 0.98-1.96) (C-index: 0.59 vs 0.55), and a risk increase for overall survival (OS) (HR: 2.16 (95% CI: 1.37-3.40) vs 1.40 (95% CI: 0.90-2.17); C-index: 0.59 vs 0.55). The combined model defined a high-risk population with 35% and 42% increased odds of a 4-year PFS and OS event, respectively, versus the International Prognostic Index components alone. The method also identified a subpopulation with a 2-year Central Nervous System (CNS)-relapse probability of 17.1%. Conclusion Our tool enables an enhanced risk stratification compared with IPI, and the results indicate that imaging can be used to improve the prediction of central nervous system relapse in DLBCL. These findings support integration of clinically informative AI-generated imaging metrics into clinical workflows to improve identification of high-risk DLBCL patients. Trial Registration Registered clinicaltrials.gov number: NCT01287741. Graphical Keywords: DLBCL, FDG-PET, Imaging, AI
We investigated the prognostic value of baseline positron emission tomography (PET) parameters for patients with treatment-naïve follicular lymphoma (FL) in the phase III RELEVANCE trial, comparing ...the immunomodulatory combination of lenalidomide and rituximab (R
) versus R-chemotherapy (R-chemo), with both regimens followed by R maintenance therapy.
Baseline characteristics of the entire PET-evaluable population (n = 406/1032) were well balanced between treatment arms. The maximal standard uptake value (SUV
) and the standardized maximal distance between tow lesions (SD
) were extracted, the standardized distance between two lesions the furthest apart, were extracted. The total metabolic tumor volume (TMTV) was computed using the 41% SUV
method.
With a median follow-up of 6.5 years, the 6-year progression-free survival (PFS) was 57.8%, the median TMTV was 284 cm
, SUV
was 11.3 and SD
was 0.32 m
, with no significant difference between arms. High TMTV (>510 cm
) and FLIPI were associated with an inferior PFS (P = 0.013 and P = 0.006, respectively), whereas SUV
and SD
were not (P = 0.08 and P = 0.12, respectively). In multivariable analysis, follicular lymphoma international prognostic index (FLIPI) and TMTV remained significantly associated with PFS (P = 0.0119 and P = 0.0379, respectively). These two adverse factors combined stratified the overall population into three risk groups: patients with no risk factors (40%), with one factor (44%), or with both (16%), with a 6-year PFS of 67.7%, 54.5%, and 41.0%, respectively. No significant interaction between treatment arms and TMTV or FLIPI (P = 0.31 or P = 0.59, respectively) was observed. The high-risk group (high TMTV and FLIPI 3-5) had a similar PFS in both arms (P = 0.45) with a median PFS of 68.4% in the R-chemo arm versus 71.4% in the R
arm.
Baseline TMTV is predictive of PFS, independently of FLIPI, in patients with advanced FL even in the context of antibody maintenance.
Abstract Most individuals who enter drug treatment programs are unable to maintain long-term abstinence. This problem is especially relevant for those presenting with Antisocial Personality Disorder ...(ASPD). In examining potential mechanisms underlying the relationship between ASPD and abstinence, one factor that may be especially useful is the personality variable of impulsivity. Thus, the current study examined ASPD status in relation to longest abstinence attempt among 117 substance use treatment-seeking individuals, considering the mediating role of five facets of impulsivity: urgency, perseverance, premeditation, control, and delay discounting. Results indicated that individuals with ASPD evidenced shorter previous abstinence attempts and lower levels of perseverance and control than those without ASPD. Further, lower levels of control were associated with shorter abstinence attempts. Finally, control mediated the relationship between ASPD and longest quit attempt. These results suggest the potential value of multiple facets of impulsivity in efforts to understand relapse and subsequent treatment development efforts.
Consensus Panel 5 (CP5) of the 11th International Workshop on Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia (IWWM-11; held in October 2022) was tasked with reviewing the current data on the coronavirus ...disease-2019 (COVID-19) prophylaxis and management in patients with Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia (WM). The key recommendations from IWWM-11 CP5 included the following: Booster vaccines for SARS-CoV-2 should be recommended to all patients with WM. Variant-specific booster vaccines, such as the bivalent vaccine for the ancestral Wuhan strain and the Omicron BA.4.5 strain, are important as novel mutants emerge and become dominant in the community. A temporary interruption in Bruton's Tyrosine Kinase-inhibitor (BTKi) or chemoimmunotherapy before vaccination might be considered. Patients under treatment with rituximab or BTK-inhibitors have lower antibody responses against SARS-CoV-2; thus, they should continue to follow preventive measures, including mask wearing and avoiding crowded places. Patients with WM are candidates for preexposure prophylaxis, if available and relevant to the dominant SARS-CoV-2 strains in a specific area. Oral antivirals should be offered to all symptomatic WM patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 regardless of vaccination, disease status or treatment, as soon as possible after the positive test and within 5 days of COVID-19-related symptom onset. Coadministration of ibrutinib or venetoclax with ritonavir should be avoided. In these patients, remdesivir offers an effective alternative. Patients with asymptomatic or oligosymptomatic COVID-19 should not interrupt treatment with a BTK inhibitor. Infection prophylaxis is essential in patients with WM and include general preventive measures, prophylaxis with antivirals and vaccination against common pathogens including SARS-CoV-2, influenza, and S. pneumoniae.
The consensus panel 2 (CP2) of the 11th International Workshop on Waldenström's macroglobulinemia (IWWM-11) has reviewed and incorporated current data to update the recommendations for treatment ...approaches in patients with relapsed or refractory WM (RRWM). The key recommendations from IWWM-11 CP2 include: (1) Chemoimmunotherapy (CIT) and/or a covalent Bruton tyrosine kinase (cBTKi) strategies are important options; their use should reflect the prior upfront strategy and are subject to their availability. (2) In selecting treatment, biological age, co-morbidities and fitness are important; nature of relapse, disease phenotype and WM-related complications, patient preferences and hematopoietic reserve are also critical factors while the composition of the BM disease and mutational status (MYD88, CXCR4, TP53) should also be noted. (3) The trigger for initiating treatment in RRWM should utilize knowledge of patients' prior disease characteristics to avoid unnecessary delays. (4) Risk factors for cBTKi related toxicities (cardiovascular dysfunction, bleeding risk and concurrent medication) should be addressed when choosing cBTKi. Mutational status (MYD88, CXCR4) may influence the cBTKi efficacy, and the role of TP53 disruptions requires further study) in the event of cBTKi failure dose intensity could be up titrated subject to toxicities. Options after BTKi failure include CIT with a non-cross-reactive regimen to one previously used CIT, addition of anti-CD20 antibody to BTKi, switching to a newer cBTKi or non-covalent BTKi, proteasome inhibitors, BCL-2 inhibitors, and new anti-CD20 combinations are additional options. Clinical trial participation should be encouraged for all patients with RRWM.