CURRENT ISSUE
September, 2024

No. 109 (9)

2023 CiteScore: 14.1 2023 Impact Factor: 8.2

ARTICLES IN THREE SENTENCES
Article

MYC overexpression in natural killer cell lymphoma: prognostic and therapeutic implications

There is an unmet need to identify novel treatments for patients with extranodal natural killer (NK)/T-cell lymphoma (ENKTL). The study by Bi and colleagues explores the clinical significance and therapeutic implications of the oncogene c-MYC (MYC) in ENKTL. They demonstrate that MYC has prognostic significance in ENKTL and also show that palbociclib, a CDK4 inhibitor, selectively inhibits malignant NK cells with MYC overexpression.

Chengfeng Bi et al.

Article

The initial molecular response predicts the deep molecular response but not treatment-free remission maintenance in a real-world chronic myeloid leukemia cohort

In chronic myeloid leukemia, the identification of early molecular predictors of stable, treatment-free remission (TFR) after tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) discontinuation is challenging. Saugues and colleagues used data from a real-world cohort of 408 patients to compare the value of the EUTOS long-term survival (ELTS) score, BCR:ABL1 halving time, and residual disease at 3 and 6 months in predicting molecular response, achievement of TKI discontinuation criteria, and TFR maintenance. The study shows that these are excellent as markers of TKI efficacy and for identifying best responders, but they do not predict achievement of criteria for TKI discontinuation criteria or TFR maintenance.

Sandrine Saugues et al.

Article

Steroid-free combination of 5-azacytidine and venetoclax for the treatment of multiple myeloma

A proportion of patients with multiple myeloma (MM) depend on BCL-2 for survival, and, recently, the BCL-2 antagonist venetoclax has shown clinical efficacy and safety in t(11;14)-positive and BCL-2-overexpressing MM. Flanagan and colleagues used an unbiased screening approach to search for epigenetic modifiers to enhance sensitivity to venetoclax in non-BCL-2-dependent MM cell lines. They identified 5-azacytidine and venetoclax as an effective treatment combination, particularly for elderly MM patients.

Lyndsey Flanagan et al.

Article

Tocilizumab administration in cytokine release syndrome is associated with hypofibrinogenemia after chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy for hematologic malignancies

Approximately 50% of patients have abnormal coagulation parameters after chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy and hypofibrinogenemia, in particular, can be related to the cytokine release syndrome. Perl and colleagues examined the features of hypofibrinogenemia in patients receiving CAR T-cell therapy. They demonstrated that tocilizumab inhibits fibrinogen upregulation resulting in prolonged hypofibrinogenemia, thereby providing novel insights into the pathophysiology of hypofibrinogenemia and highlighting the need for close monitoring after tocilizumab treatment.

Markus Perl et al.

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