Vol 85, No 7 (2013)

Over the past decade the clinical introduction of agents that directionally blocks the activity of BCR-ABL tumor tyrosine kinase (TK) has changed the prognosis of chronic myeloid leukemia. A significant malignant Ph'-positive clone inhibition and durable remissions have made it possible to increase overall and relapse-free survival. Due to their higher life expectancy, the number of patients is on the increase and their quality of life and working capacity remain good. According to the All-Russian Register of Chronic Myeloid Leukemia, there were more than 6500 cases in the Russian Federation in 2012. Of them, 93.1% were diagnosed with the chronic phase of the disease, 6.4 and 0.4% with its accelerated phase and blast crisis, respectively. Among the BCR-ABL TK inhibitors (TKI) registered in the Russian Federation and recommended for the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia, there are 3 medications: imatinib, nilotinib, and dasatinib. The efficiency and safety of TKI therapy have been well studied. The most important principle of treatment is to permanently affect the Ph'-positive tumor cell clone by the long-term daily use of TKIs. Regular cytogenetic and molecular genetic monitoring allows adequate estimation of the leukemic clone volume and it is essential in evaluating the therapeutic effectiveness. To choose a TKI for each specific patient with regard for its best tolerability and maximum efficiency permits individualized treatment. The prospect of therapy discontinuation can be discussed only in individual patients with a durable and stable complete molecular response and only within clinical trials.

AIM: To evaluate the efficiency of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) in patients with acute myeloblastic leukemia in first remission depending on the regimens of conditioning, the source of a graft, and the characteristics of a donor and a recipient/MATERIAL AND METHODS: In 66 treated patients, including from partially HLA-mismatched relatives (n=4), the efficiency of allo-HSCT from related donors (n=26) and unrelated donors (n=40), were compared. According to cytogenetic findings, 7 (11%), 31 (47%), and 10 (15%) patients belonged to low-, intermediate-, and high-risk groups, respectively/RESULTS: Five-year overall survival (OS) and mortality associated with transplantation were 56 and 22% for allo-HSCT from related donors, 68 and 23% for that from HLA-matched donors, and 71 and 25% for that from partially HLA-mismatched donors, respectively (p=0.8 and p=0.7). The relapse risk after allo-HSCT from unrelated donors was significantly lower than after that from related donors (13 and 35%, respectively; p=0.8). Univariate analysis showed that the OS rates depended on the cytogenetic risk group (OS was 24 and 64% in the high- and intermediate-risk groups, respectively (p=0.027). The relapse risk in chronic graft-versus-host reaction (GVHR) and in grade 3 acute GVHR (p=0.01) was shown to be less than that in grades 1-2 acute GVHR (p=0.06)/CONCLUSION: OS rates after allo-HSCT from related and unrelated donors were comparable and unrelated to the source of a graft, the regimen of conditioning, and other characteristics of a donor and a recipient.

AIM: To study and compare cytogenetic abnormalities in the bone marrow (BM) and peripheral blood (PB) CD34+ hematopoietic progenitor cells and in the BM mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS)/MATERIAL AND METHODS: The results of a cytogenetic analysis of the total population of BM cells (BMC), CD34+ hematopoietic progenitor cells from BM and PB, and BM MSCs were analyzed in 35 patients (29 patients with MDS and 6 with MDS transformed into acute myeloid leukemia (AML)) and 7 healthy BM donors. Cytogenetic examinations were performed by G-banding of chromosomes and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH)/RESULTS: The BMC karyotype was abnormal in 17 (49%) of the 35 patients (13 with MDS and 4 with AML); the others were found to have a normal BM karyotype. The FISH analysis confirmed the same cytogenetic abnormalities in the BM and PB CD34+ hematopoietic progenitor cells in all the examinees with an abnormal karyotype. The mean abnormal clone sizes in the total population of BMCs and BM and PB CD34+ progenitor cells did not differ and constituted 65.8, 73.1, and 74.8%, respectively. The patients with a normal BM karyotype had no chromosome abnormalities in the CD34+ cells either. The karyotype of MSCs was analyzed in 23 (19 with MDS and 4 with AML) of the 35 patients. No karyotype abnormalities were revealed in the patients with MDS transformed into AML. There were structural chromosome aberrations in 2 (11%) of the 19 patients with MDS (one with constitutional inv(9)(p13q21) was found to have non-clonal translocation t(2;22)(p10;q11) and the other had a clone with an additional segment of the long arm of chromosome 2 in 35% of the cells. No numerical MSC karyotype abnormalities were detected. A normal MSC karyotype was defined in 7 healthy BM donors/CONCLUSION: The cytogenetic analysis of hematopoietic and mesenchymal progenitor cells showed that the chromosome abnormalities revealed in these cell populations were different in the patients with MDS. The isolated CD34+ cells displayed the same cytogenetic abnormalities as in a total population of BMC. Examination of the latter could reveal no cytogenetic abnormalities in the majority of the patients. A normal BMC karyotype was detectable in the patients with AML. Two (11%) patients with MDS were found to have structural chromosome abnormalities that differed from those detected in the total population of BMC and in isolated CD34+ cells. The differences of chromosome abnormalities in the hematopoietic and mesenchymal progenitor cells point to the fact that the stromal microenvironment is not part of the abnormal clone in MDS, however, it may be of great importance in the pathogenesis of the disease.

AIM: To make a differential diagnosis of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) with primary involvement of the mediastinal lymph nodes (LN) and primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma (PMLBCL); to evaluate the efficiency of a modified NHL-BFM-90 (M-NHL-BFM-90) program in the treatment of the above nosological entities/MATERIAL AND METHODS: The investigation enrolled 60 patients with large B-cell lymphoma (LBCL) with primary involvement of mediastinal LN who had been treated at the Hematology Research Center, Ministry of Health of Russia, in 2004 to 2012. The diagnosis of PMLBCL and DLBCL with primary involvement of mediastinal LN was based on histological findings, the phenotype of tumor cells, and molecular evidence. Treatment was performed according to the M-NHL-BFM-90 program. Three pregnant women received predelivery polychemotherapy (PCT) according to the VACOP-B protocol and continued to have a DexaBEAM chemotherapy regimen 3-4 weeks postpartum. In case of a residual mass, all the patients underwent consolidation radiotherapy to the mediastinal area in a total focal dose of 36 Gy/RESULTS: The diagnosis of PMLBCL was established in 39 patients: 10 men and 29 women whose ages were 18 to 60 years (median age 30 years); DLBCL with primary involvement of mediastinal LN was verified in 21 patients: 8 men and 13 women whose age was 21 to 70 years (median age 30 years). After m-NHL-BFM-90 treatment protocol, 5-year overall survival rates in the patients with DLBCL with primary involvement of mediastinal LN and in those with PMLBCL were 95±5 and 86±6% and 5-year event-free survival rates were 95±5 and 78±7%, respectively. All the pregnant women diagnosed with PMLBCL who had received the VACOP-B ⇒ delivery ⇒ Dexa-BEAM PCT regimen during pregnancy achieved remission. The follow-up periods were 30, 36, and 42 weeks/CONCLUSION: The patients with new-onset LBCL and primary involvement of mediastinal LN are a heterogeneous group that includes patients having two different diagnoses: PMLBCL and DLBCL. The efficiency of high-dose PCT is different in the patients with DLBCL with primary involvement of mediastinal LN and in those with PMLBCL (in spite of their similar clinical features, similar epidemiological characteristics, and the presence of the same unfavorable prognostic factors at onset).

AIM: To estimate a change in myelodysplasia in decitabine-treated patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS)/MATERIAL AND METHODS: Thirteen MDS patients from a high-risk group were examined; 75 bone marrow puncture specimens and 67 bone marrow trepanobiopsy specimens from these patients were analyzed before and after decitabine treatment. Dysplastic changes in the hematopoietic cells were monitored during the treatment/RESULTS: The dysplastic changes in the hematopoietic cells are a morphological portrayal of the ineffective hematopoiesis in patients with MDS. The study has indicated that the use of the hypomethylating agent decitabine promotes the restoration of cell differentiation to mature forms, causing hematopoiesis to be more effective. The incidence of myelodysplasias (including mixed double- and triple-lineage ones) was statistically significantly reduced by decitabine treatment, which was associated with a positive response to treatment as a whole. The count of cells with dysplastic features remained unchanged in patients with therapy resistance or further disease progression/CONCLUSION: Analysis of myelodysplastic manifestations in different hematopoietic lineages in patients with MDS should be based on the comprehensive dynamic assessment of cytological and histological parameters at both the primary diagnosis of the disease and different stages of treatment. With a response to decitabine therapy (as shown by the results of aspiration and trepanobiopsy), all cell lines displayed reduced myelodysplastic changes, indirectly indicating a decrease of the abnormal clone itself in high-risk MDS patients.

The paper describes a case of a patient with refractory hairy cell leukemia. In spite of the absence of CD25 expression, the disease was classified as a classical form according to the WHO classification (2008), as also confirmed by the detection of BRAFV600E mutation. The disease was characterized by resistance to all lines of therapy (interferon-α, splenectomy, cladribin). Clinical and hematological remission was achieved within 2 months of administration of the BRAF kinase inhibitor vemurafenib.

Extramedullary disease is an uncommon manifestation in multiple myeloma (MM) and can be observed at onset or develop at disease progression or relapse. Splenic involvement is very rare. The paper describes a 52-year-old female patient with MM who in 1990 was diagnosed with monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance with IgGκ secretion and a considerably enlarged spleen. Specific therapy with bortezomib and dexamethasone was initiated in 2006 and proved to be inefficient. After splenectomy there was a 50% reduction in IgGκ concentration. Splenic histological examination revealed monoclonal infiltration by the pleomorphic plasma cells expressing a kappa light chain.

High-dose chemotherapy (HD-CT) in combination with autologous stem cell transplantation (auto-SCT) has long become the gold standard treatment for chemosensitive recurrences and refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). By taking into account the low efficiency of rescue therapy (postrecurrence five-year survival rate is not more than 10-20%), it is clear that the results of treatment should be improved in the induction of the first remission. The study performed in the rituximab time showed the higher efficiency of first-line therapy using auto-SCT. Therapeutic effectiveness was also noted to depend on the intensity of pretransplantation regimens. Indications for HD-CT with auto-SCT must be substantiated because of the higher toxicity together with therapy intensification. Conventional clinical criteria for this are insufficient. Thus, it is necessary to search for new molecular genetic prognostic factors that will be able to portray tumor biology.