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We report the case of a young woman who developed aplastic anemia (AA), following a serologically confirmed primary Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) infection, occurring with fever and pharyngotonsillitis, in the absence of either palpable lymph nodes or enlarged spleen. Pancytopenia persisted after EBV DNA clearance, requiring multiple red blood cell and platelet transfusions. Given the availability of a human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-matched sibling donor (MSD), hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) from bone marrow source was performed after a non-myeloablative conditioning regimen with cyclophosphamide and thymoglobulin. Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis consisted of cyclosporine A and methotrexate. EBV reactivation occurred, one month post-HSCT, peaking at 28,838 DNA copies/ml in peripheral blood, without evidence of post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder. Two pre-emptive doses of rituximab were administered, resulting in sustained EBV DNA negativity. Subsequent bone marrow evaluation showed normal cellularity and restoration of peripheral counts. After two years of follow-up, the patient remains transfusion-independent, with stable hematologic recovery, no signs of GVHD, and persistent mixed chimerism (70–75% host cells in peripheral blood; about 60% donor CD3 + lymphocytes). To our knowledge, this is the only second reported case of EBV-related AA successfully treated with MSD HSCT. This case underscores the importance of assessing EBV serology in all patients with AA, since EBV infection may be mild or subclinical, and highlights the efficacy of early rituximab administration in high-level EBV DNA reactivation after transplantation.

We investigated the performance of enzyme linked immunospot (ELISpot) assay for the diagnosis of invasive aspergillosis (IA) in high-risk patients with hematologic malignancies. We prospectively enrolled two cohorts of patients undergoing intensive myelosuppressive or immunosuppressive treatments at high risk for IA. ELISpot was performed to detect Aspergillus-specific T cells producing Interleukin-10. In the discovery cohort, a derived cut-off of 40 spot forming cells (SFCs)/106 PBMCs has shown to correctly classify IA cases with a sensitivity and specificity of 89.5% and 88.6%, respectively. This cut-off is lowered to 25 SFC when considering the subset of possible IA patients, with sensitivity and specificity of 76% and 93%, respectively. The application of the 40 SFCs cut-off to the validation cohort resulted in a positivity rate of 83.3% in proven/probable cases and a negativity rate of 92.5% in possible/non-IA cases. Adopting the 25 SCFs cut-off, the assay resulted positive in 83.3% of proven/probable cases while it resulted negative in 66.7% of possible/non-IA cases. ELISpot shows promises in the diagnosis of IA and the possibility to use two distinct cut-offs with similar diagnostic performances according to patients' different pre-test probability of infection can widen its use in patients at risk.

Recommendations and guidelines for management of SARS-COV-2 infection in hematologic patients were developed in the very difficult context of dealing with novel viral variants from one pandemic wave to another, with different susceptibility to available drugs and vaccines. Moreover, the largest SARS-COV-2 case series in patients treated for hematologic malignancies, including stem cell transplant recipients, was published before the Omicron surge, and refers mainly to Alpha and Delta viral variants. These infections had very high mortality, in a period when antivirals and monoclonal antibodies were mostly unavailable. Here, we report for the first time a SARS-COV-2 Omicron variant outbreak inside a Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) Unit, describing the characteristics, clinical course, and infection outcomes shortly before and shortly after myeloablative transplantation. We detail how infections were treated off-label and managed inside the BMT ward, to guarantee the best possible outcomes while avoiding risks for non-infected inpatients. The positive outcomes observed suggest that it may not be absolutely necessary to obtain SARS-CoV-2 PCR negativity before BMT in hematologic patients after treated infection, in cases with long-term PCR positivity and high-risk hematologic disease.

Nodal marginal zone B-cell lymphoma (NMZL) is actually considered as a distinct entity that must be distinguished from extra-nodal and splenic marginal zone lymphomas. To define the cell origin and the role of antigen stimulation we determined the nucleotide sequence of the tumor-related immunoglobulin heavy chain variable genes in 10 cases of NMZL. The results were also evaluated on the basis of the presence of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. All 10 cases harbored VH somatic mutations with a sequence homology compared to the closest germline gene, ranging from 83.33 to 98.28%. Interestingly, different VH segments were preferentially used in HCV-positive and HCV-negative patients: three of five HCV-negative NMZLs used a VH4-34 segment joined with different D and JH segments whereas three of five HCV-positive NMZLs used a VH1-69 gene joined with a D3-22 and a JH4 segment, with very strong similarities in the CDR3s among the three different cases. These data indicate: 1) NMZL is derived from B cells that have experienced the germinal center reaction; 2) the preferential usage of a VH1-69 segment in the majority of the HCV-positive NMZL cases with similar CDR3s suggests the presence of a common antigen, probably a HCV antigen epitope, involved in the B-cell selection; and 3) the use of a VH4-34 segment suggests a role of yet unknown B-cell superantigen(s) in the selection of tumor B-cell precursors in HCV-negative NMZL.

Multiple Myeloma (MM) is a malignant growth of clonal plasma cells, typically arising from asymptomatic precursor conditions, namely monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) and smoldering MM (SMM). Profound immunological dysfunctions and cytokine deregulation are known to characterize the evolution of the disease, allowing immune escape and proliferation of neoplastic plasma cells. In the past decades, several studies have shown that the immune system can recognize MGUS and MM clonal cells, suggesting that anti-myeloma T cell immunity could be harnessed for therapeutic purposes. In line with this notion, chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR-T) therapy is emerging as a novel treatment in MM, especially in the relapsed/refractory disease setting. In this review, we focus on the pivotal contribution of T cell impairment in the immunopathogenesis of plasma cell dyscrasias and, in particular, in the disease progression from MGUS to SMM and MM, highlighting the potentials of T cell-based immunotherapeutic approaches in these settings.

The administration of TKIs after Allo-SCT in Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Ph + ALL) remains controversial, and the TKI approach (prophylactic, pre-emptive or salvage) is still heterogeneous in transplant centers. In this context, very little is known about the feasibility and safety of third-generation TKIs. In this paper, we analyze the efficacy and safety of ponatinib (PONA) administered after Allo-SCT to prevent cytologic relapse of Ph + ALL. This is a multicenter observational study including 48 patients (pts) with Ph + ALL (median age 49 years) who received PONA after Allo-SCT while in complete cytological remission (cCR); 26 (54%) had positive minimal residual disease (MRD pos) before Allo-SCT. PONA was administered after Allo-SCT prophylactically (starting with MRD neg) in 26 pts or pre-emptively (starting with MRD pos post-SCT and without hematological relapse) in 22 pts. Patients treated prophylactically with PONA started treatment earlier, at a median of 4.3 months (range 1.5–6) after Allo-SCT, than those treated pre-emptively, who started PONA at a median of 7.4 months (range 2–63) after Allo-SCT (p = 0.01). The median starting dose of PONA was 30 mg/day (range 15–45). A dose reduction was required in 10/48 (21%) of cases, but a permanent discontinuation of PONA, due to toxicity, was required in only 5/48 pts (10.5%). No deaths due to PONA-related adverse events (AEs) were reported. The median follow-up time after Allo-SCT was 34 months (range 7.7–118). At the last follow-up, the median duration of PONA therapy was 22 months (range 2–100). The 5-year OS and RFS after Allo-SCT were 92% and 71%, respectively. The 5-year RFS after Allo-SCT of pts who received PONA prophylaxis was 95%, and it was 57% for those who received PONA pre-emptively (log-rank p = 0.02). In conclusion, this multicenter analysis of 48 patients with Ph + ALL undergoing Allo-SCT while in CcR, although with the caution of the retrospective data, supports the feasibility of PONA maintenance strategy after Allo-SCT with a low rate of discontinuations (10.5%) due to PONA-related AE.

The colony-stimulating factor 3 receptor (CSF3R) plays an essential role in differentiation, growth, and survival of granulocytes. Driver mutations in CSF3R gene represent a diagnostic marker of chronic neutrophilic leukemia (CNL). Less commonly, these mutations are observed in other myeloid neoplasms but their pathogenetic and prognostic role is still unclear. Here, we analyzed a large cohort of myeloid neoplasms to evaluate the incidence of CSF3R mutations and co-mutational profile. Mutational analysis was performed using targeted NGS myeloid panel in a consecutive cohort of 360 patients with myeloid neoplasms. Mutations in CSF3R were identified in 20/360 (5.6%) cases. A CSF3R gene mutation was present in 13/179 AML cases (7.3%), in 2/27 (7.4%) CMML cases, in 1/94 (1.1%) MDS cases and in 4/60 (6.7%) other myeloid neoplasms. The frequencies of patients with CSF3R mutations lowered to 2.8% in all cases and 3.4% in AML, excluding cases with variants of uncertain significance (VUS). A total of 23 mutations of CSF3R gene were detected, half localized in the extracellular domain, 5 in the transmembrane region (type I) and 6 mutations in the cytoplasmic domain (type II). In AML, CSF3R mutations were more frequent in patients harboring CBF alterations (25.0%) and CEBPA mutations (11.8%). Two cases with AML harboring pathogenic CSF3R variants were primary refractory to induction therapy. CMML cases with T618I variant showed a myeloproliferative phenotype. Overall, our findings support the notion that CSF3R variants, particularly type I and II pathogenic mutations, may modulate the phenotypic features of leukemic cells in myeloid neoplasia.

ObjectivesAlthough early palliative care (EPC) is beneficial in acute myeloid leukaemia, little is known about EPC value in multiple myeloma (MM). We compared quality indicators for palliative and end-of-life (EOL) care in patients with MM receiving EPC with those of patients who received usual haematological care (UHC).MethodsThis observational, retrospective study was based on 290 consecutive patients with MM. The following indicators were abstracted: providing psychological support, assessing/managing pain, discussing goals of care, promoting advance care plan, accessing home care services; no anti-MM treatment within 14 and 30 days and hospice length of stay >7 days before death; no cardiopulmonary resuscitation, no intubation, <2 hospitalisations and emergency department visits within 30 days before death. Comparisons were performed using unadjusted and confounder-adjusted regression models.Results55 patients received EPC and 231 UHC. Compared with UHC patients, EPC patients had a significantly higher number of quality indicators of care (mean 2.62±1.25 vs 1.12±0.95; p<0.0001)); a significant reduction of pain intensity over time (p<0.01) and a trend towards reduced aggressiveness at EOL, with the same survival (5.3 vs 5.46 years; p=0.74)).ConclusionsOur data support the value of integrating EPC into MM routine practice and lay the groundwork for future prospective comparative studies.