Background

Understanding the prognostic markers of multiple myeloma (MM) helps in optimizing therapeutic approaches. CD56 is frequently expressed by malignant plasma cells and its use as a prognostic marker in MM is promising.

Aim

To evaluate prognostic value of CD56 expression in patients with MM.

Methods

This study included 50 newly diagnosed patients with MM. Bone marrow samples were analyzed for CD56 expression by flow cytometry. All patients received bortezomib-based therapy for at least 3-4 months.

Results

The median age of patients was 52 years (range 32-75) and 54% of them were males. The stage according to the International Staging System was I in 15 (30%) patients, II in 18 (36%) and III in 17 (34%). CD56 positivity was detected in 84% of enrolled patients. Multivariate analysis revealed that the lack of CD56 expression was an independent predictor of worse overall survival (HR = 4.31 [95% Confidence Interval: 1.23 – 15.13], p = 0.002).

Conclusion

The present study suggests that CD56 negativity is associated with poor prognosis in patients with MM and that its incorporation in the risk panel of MM may be considered. Further studies with larger sample size to validate its prognostic value are needed.

Introduction Thromboembolism is a frequent complication in thalassemia. Platelet microparticles (PMPs) may have a role in the hypercoagulability in thalassemia. Objective To determine the levels of PMPs in β-thalassemia intermedia (β-TI) patients and whether increased levels of PMPs in these patients are correlated with coagulation parameters or not. Patients and methods Sixty-three β-TI patients, classified into 46 nonsplenectomized (NS) patients, 17 splenectomized (S) patients, and 20 age-matched and sex-matched volunteers as controls. For all, full medical history, through clinical examination, and laboratory investigations: complete blood count, prothrombin time, prothrombin concentration, activated partial thromboplastin time, FVIII, FXI, fibrinogen, D-dimer, and PMPs were detected by using flow-cytometry approach. Results PMPs were significantly higher in S and NS β-TI patients than controls (P< 0.001 …

Objective

This study was done to assess the efficacy of vincristine in the treatment of patients with splenectomized chronic ITP who failed TPO-RA therapy as well as their 8-month follow-up following vincristine discontinuation.

Hemophilia is an inherited condition that is caused by the deficiency of clotting factors in the blood. The most common presentations of hemophilia are hemarthrosis and muscle hemorrhage. The severity of the bleeding episodes can vary from mild to severe resulting in pain and swelling of the joints and the muscles. Repeated musculoskeletal bleeding can result in hemophilic arthropathies with subsequent joint degeneration and deformity. Our study aims to clinically assess the quality of life in hemophilic patients in terms of disease severity and morbidity in our community using the Functional Independence Score for Hemophilia (FISH).

Results

Our cross-sectional study which involved 64 hemophilia patients revealed that the most affected joints were the weight-bearing large joints (knees, elbows, ankles) and this was associated with a lower FISH score. While the total FISH score showed a significant …

Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) have improved the prognosis of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) by inhibiting the BCR-ABL kinase. There are concerns regarding the effect of TKI on hemostasis by inhibiting platelet aggregation; the possible reason for this is yet unclear.

Objectives

To study platelet aggregation response to different agonists [(adenosine diphosphate (ADP), collagen, and arachidonic acid (AA)] using platelet aggregometry in 75 CML-chronic phase (CML-CP) patients on TKI therapy, in complete hematologic response (CHR).

Objectives: We compared the percentages of memory T cells in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) to healthy controls and tried to detect any association of these cells to treatment outcome.

Methods: The study involved 34 adult patients with AML and 24 healthy controls. Following the diagnosis of AML, blood samples were collected from patients and controls for flow cytometric detection of CD8+ T, CD4+ T, TN, TEM, TCM, TEMRA, and TSCM subsets of both CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells.

Results: No significant differences in the mean percentages of CD4+ T-cell types between AML patients and controls, with the exception of the total percentage of CD4+ T-cells which accumulated in controls, furthermore, significant accumulations of CD8+ TEMRA, CD8+ CD45+ RO, and CD8+ TEM were detected in patients compared with controls, while CD8+, CD8+ TNs, CD8+ TSCM, and CD8+ TCM accumulated in controls compared to patients, moreover, significant elevations of total CD8+ T-cells, CD8+ TEMRA, CD8+ TSCM, CD8+ TCM, and CD8+ TEM in patients with remission compared to those without remission, on the contrary, CD4+ T memory cells did not show any significant differences.

Conclusion: Our results showed that accumulation of CD8+ T memory cells in AML patients, especially those who achieved remission, could enhance the immune response, particularly in those at high risk of relapse after bone marrow transplantation.