Introduction
Myeloid sarcoma (MS) is an extramedullary malignant tumor composed of immature myeloid cells. It occurs in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), or ...chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). MS may coincide with disease diagnosis or precede bone marrow involvement by months or even years; it can also represent the extramedullary manifestation of a relapse (
1
,
2
).
Aim
The aim of this study is to describe clinical characteristics of children diagnosed with MS in Poland as well as to analyze diagnostic methods, treatment, and outcomes including overall survival (OS), relapse-free survival (RFS), and event-free survival (EFS). The study also attempted to identify factors determining treatment outcomes.
Patients
The study group comprised 43 patients (F=18, M=25) aged 0-18 years (median age, 10.0 years; mean age, 8.8 years) diagnosed with MS based on tumor biopsy and immunohistochemistry or identification of underlying bone marrow disease and extramedullary tumor according to imaging findings.
Methods
The clinical data and diagnostic and therapeutic methods used in the study group were analyzed. A statistical analysis of the treatment outcomes was conducted with STATISTICA v. 13 (StatSoft, Inc., Tulsa, OK, USA) and analysis of survival curves was conducted with MedCalc 11.5.1 (MedCalc Software, Ostend, Belgium). Statistical significance was considered at p<0.05.
Results
In the study group, MS was most frequently accompanied by AML. The most common site of involvement was skin, followed by orbital region. Skin manifestation of MS was more common in the age group <10 years. The most frequent genetic abnormality was the t(8;21)(q22;q22) translocation. The 5-year OS probability (pOS), 5-year RFS probability (pRFS), and 5-year EFS probability (pEFS) were 0.67 ± 0.08, 0.79 ± 0.07, and 0.65 ± 0.08, respectively. In patients with isolated MS and those with concurrent bone marrow involvement by AML/MDS, pOS values were 0.56 ± 0.12 and 0.84 ± 0.09 (p=0.0251), respectively, and pEFS values were 0.56 ± 0.12 and 0.82 ± 0.08 (p=0.0247), respectively. In patients with and without the t(8;21)(q22;q22) translocation, pEFS values were 0.90 ± 0.09 and 0.51 ± 0.14 (p=0.0490), respectively.
Conclusions
MS is a disease with a highly variable clinical course. Worse treatment outcomes were observed in patients with isolated MS compared to those with concurrent bone marrow involvement by AML/MDS. Patients with the t(8;21)(q22;q22) translocation were found to have significantly higher pEFS. MS location, age group, chemotherapy regimen, surgery, and/or radiotherapy did not have a significant influence on treatment outcomes. Further exploration of prognostic factors in children with MS is indicated.
Childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) survivors are at an increased risk of cardiovascular disease including arterial hypertension (AH). The objectives of this study were to assess the ...prevalence of AH using 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, explore characteristics of AH, and define risk factors for the development of AH in childhood ALL survivors.
The study comprised 81 childhood ALL survivors (5 to 25 y of age) after a median follow-up time of 5 years. The control group consisted of 52 healthy children (5 to 17 y of age) without any known severe or chronic medical condition. Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring was performed in all patients and controls. Serum lipids were measured in all patients and controls.
ALL survivors were more likely to have AH than controls (odds ratio, 2.47; 95% confidence interval, 1.08-5.63; P=0.0315). The mean time from ALL diagnosis until diagnosis of AH was 5.1±2.97 years. Day-time diastolic SDS and day-time mean arterial pressure SDS were significantly higher in ALL cohort compared with the controls (-0.3±1.43 vs. -0.76±0.95; P=0.04 and 1.44±1.64 vs. 0.92±1.03; P=0.047). Childhood ALL survivors with AH were more likely to be systolic extreme dippers and reverse systolic/diastolic dippers compared with those with normal blood pressure (P<0.05). There was no association of AH with leukemia subtype, leukemia risk group, sex, central nervous system irradiation, and obesity.
The prevalence of AH in childhood ALL survivors may be as high as 37%. We recommend regular monitoring of blood pressure in childhood ALL survivors early in the follow-up.
The most common complications related to the treatment of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) are infections. The aim of the study was to analyze the incidence and mortality rates among ...pediatric patients with ALL who were treated in 17 Polish pediatric hematology centers in 2020-2021 during the pandemic. Additionally, we compared these results with those of our previous study, which we conducted in the years 2012-2017. The retrospective analysis included 460 patients aged 1-18 years with newly diagnosed ALL. In our study, 361/460 (78.5%) children were reported to have microbiologically documented bacterial infections during chemotherapy. Ten patients (2.8%) died due to sepsis. Fungal infections were reported in 99 children (21.5%), of whom five (5.1%) died due to the infection. We especially observed an increase in bacterial infections during the pandemic period compared to the previous study. The directions of our actions should be to consider antibiotic prophylaxis, shorten the duration of hospitalization, and educate parents and medical staff about complications (mainly infections) during anticancer therapy. It is necessary to continue clinical studies evaluating infection prophylaxis to improve outcomes in childhood ALL patients.
Flow cytometry (FCM) is a precise and well-established tool to assess the minimal residual disease (MRD) level in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). It is crucial to distinguish leukemic ...cells from their normal counterparts; thus new markers should be evaluated, to increase the accuracy of the analysis. The expression of CD73 on blast cells was measured and compared at the day of diagnosis and at days 15 and 33 of treatment. To determine antigen expression levels, a normalized scale based on median fluorescence intensity (nMFI) was used. The study group consisted of 188 patients from the Polish Pediatric Leukemia and Lymphoma Study Group. From 177 patients with positive MRD at day 15 of treatment, in 147 (83.1%) cases an increase of CD73 expression was observed (mean increase of +17 nMFI units). In addition, an increase of CD73 expression was noted in 26 of 31 (83.9%) patients at day 33 of treatment. In turn, a decrease of CD73 expression was observed only in 13/177 (7.3%) and 1/31 (3.2%) cases at days 15 and 33 of treatment, respectively. In 17 (9.6%) patients no change in expression of CD73 between diagnosis and day 15 of treatment was observed. In the great majority of cases the expression of CD73 is not only stable but increases during the early stages of treatment, which makes it a very useful marker to be used for MRD monitoring in childhood B-cell precursor (BCP)-ALL patients.
In 2020, the new nationwide protocol of prophylaxis in Polish plasma-derived FVIII (pdFVIII) previously treated patients (PTPs) with severe hemophilia A (sHA) was introduced, resulting in the ...necessity of switching from pdFVIII to recombinant FVIII (octocog-alpha; rFVIII). The study aimed to: (1) assess the safety of switching from pdFVIII to rFVIII, (2) assess the safety and efficacy of pharmacokinetically based (PK-based) personalized prophylaxis in severe hemophilia A.
151 children and adolescents receiving prophylaxis with a standard dose (40 U/kg 3 x weekly) of pdFVIII were included in this study. Annualized bleeding rate (ABR) and annualized joint bleeding rate (AJBR) were analyzed for all patients before enrollment. Using myPKFiT application, pharmacokinetic (PK) analysis followed by the selection of the optimal model of prophylaxis was performed in all patients. Two possible models of prophylaxis (standard-dose rFVIII versus PK-based rFVIII) were discussed, with parents leaving the choice to their decision. Parents reported all episodes of bleeds. Screening for inhibitor was performed every 3 months. ABR and AJBR were prospectively analyzed again after a minimum follow-up time of 26 weeks.
141/151 (93.4%) patients completed the study. 34 patients decided to continue standard prophylaxis with rFVIII (Group I), whereas 107 were switched to PK-based prophylaxis (Group II). The risk of inhibitor development could be assessed in 137/151 (90.7%) patients. Only 2/137 (1.47%) patients (both on PK-based prophylaxis) developed low-titer inhibitor with its spontaneous elimination. The retrospective analysis of bleeds during the last 12 months of standard pdFVIII prophylaxis revealed that patients who decided to continue standard prophylaxis had historically lower ABR and AJBR than those who started PK-based personalized prophylaxis. After a minimum of 26 weeks, ABR and AJBR improved significantly in both groups. There was no significant difference in ABR and AJBR between Group I and Group II during the follow-up period. However, the rate of reduction of ABR and AJBR was higher in patients on PK-based personalized prophylaxis.
(1) Switching from pdFVIII to rFVIII (octocog-alpha) in PTPs with sHA is safe, (2) PK-based personalized prophylaxis may decrease ABR and AJBR in children and adolescents with sHA.
The reports of studies that compare the survival of adolescents and young adults with younger children with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) are contradictory.
We retrospectively analyzed 220 AML ...patients aged 0-18 years treated in pediatric oncologic centers in Poland from 2015 to 2022. The evaluated group included 31 infants (below 1 year), 91 younger children (1-9.9 years), 59 older children (10-14.9 years), and 39 adolescents (15-18 years).
A 5-year overall survival for adolescents was not significantly inferior compared to younger and older children (74.3 ± 7.6% vs. 80.5 ± 4.4% vs. 77.9 ± 5.1,
= 0.243). However, relapse-free survival was lower in adolescents compared to younger children (76.5 ± 7.8% vs. 65.7 ± 9.0%,
= 0.049), and treatment-related mortality tended to be higher (10.3% vs. 4.4%,
= 0.569). In the univariate analysis, high-risk genetics HR, 2.0 (95% CI 1.1-3.6;
= 0.014) and a leukocyte count at diagnosis above 100,000/μL HR, 2.4 (95% CI 1.3-4.6;
= 0.004) were found to be unfavorable prognostic factors for survival.
Although we have not found that age over 15 years is an unfavorable factor for overall survival, the optimal approach to therapy in adolescents, as in other age groups, is to adjust the intensity of therapy to individual genetic risk and introduce targeted therapies when indicated.
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