Issue Archive

The International Lymphoma Radiation Oncology Group provides evidence-supported options for adjusting radiation therapy timing and delivery for patients with selected hematological malignancies in the COVID-19 pandemic, while maintaining efficacy and safety.

In this month’s CME article, Royal and colleagues report on light chain cast nephropathy in 178 patients with myeloma and demonstrate that the extent of cast formation and interstital fibrosis/tubular atrophy predicts the quality of renal response to therapy, which, in turn, is associated with overall survival.

Investigators from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital provide a valuable resource for understanding the long-term health of pediatric stem cell transplant survivors by analyzing both detailed patient-reported and clinically assessed outcomes and comparing these with similar data for patients receiving nontransplant regimens and normal controls.

A key question for many patients when first diagnosed with early-stage chronic lymphocytic leukemia is, “When will I need therapy?” Condoluci and an international consortium report a validated algorithm comprising clinical and laboratory measures to estimate the probability of requiring therapy within 5 years for individual patients.

Most Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)–associated lymphomas express viral proteins that are poorly immunogenic. Dalton and colleagues used a high-throughput screen to identify decitabine as a potent inducer of immunogenic EBV antigens and validate the drug’s ability to sensitize lymphomas to EBV-cytotoxic T lymphocytes in vitro and in vivo.

Simon and colleagues report their investigations into whether mutations in RUNX1 observed in a series of 430 acute myeloid leukemia (AML) samples are somatic or germline. They revealed a surprisingly high frequency of germline mutations that should prompt further exploration.

Using a murine model, Pal and colleagues demonstrated that MYH9-RD mutations observed in patients impair megakaryocyte chemotaxis, disrupting migration towards the vasculature and interfering with proplatelet release, thereby causing macrothrombocytopenia.

Producing recombinant factor VIII in mammalian cells is inefficient. Poothong and colleagues provide novel insight into mechanisms that limit factor VIII secretion through endoplasmic reticulum stress, with implications for ongoing hemophilia A gene therapy clinical trials.

Treon et al provide early clinical data supporting a theoretical rationale for continuing ibrutinib in patients receiving the drug during COVID-19 illness.