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Background: Clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP), which is defined as the presence of blood cells originating from somatically mutated hematopoietic stem cells, is common among the elderly and is associated with an increased risk of hematologic malignancies. We investigated the clinical, mutational, and transcriptomic characteristics in elderly Korean individuals with CHIP mutations. Methods: We investigated CHIP in 90 elderly individuals aged =60 years with normal complete blood counts at a tertiary-care hospital in Korea between June 2021 and February 2022. Clinical and laboratory data were prospectively obtained. Targeted next-generation sequencing of 49 myeloid malignancy driver genes and massively parallel RNA sequencing were performed to explore the molecular spectrum and transcriptomic characteristics of CHIP mutations. Results: We detected 51 mutations in 10 genes in 37 (41%) of the study individuals. CHIP prevalence increased with age. CHIP mutations were observed with high prevalence in DNMT3A (26 individuals) and TET2 (eight individuals) and were also found in various other genes, including KDM6A, SMC3, TP53, BRAF, PPM1D, SRSF2, STAG1, and ZRSR2. Baseline characteristics, including age, confounding diseases, and blood cell parameters, showed no significant differences. Using mRNA sequencing, we characterized the altered gene expression profile, implicating neutrophil degranulation and innate immune system dysregulation. Conclusions: Somatic CHIP driver mutations are common among the elderly in Korea and are detected in various genes, including DNMT3A and TET2. Our study highlights that chronic dysregulation of innate immune signaling is associated with the pathogenesis of various diseases, including hematologic malignancies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The objective of this study was to describe and analyze the clinicopathological features of primary choriocarcinoma (PCC) observed in male patients treated at the Samsung Medical Center between 1996 and 2020. Materials and Methods We reviewed the clinical records of 14 male patients with PCC retrospectively to assess their demographic, histological, and clinical characteristics at the time of diagnosis as well as identify the treatment outcomes. Results The median age of the patients was 33 years. The primary tumor site was the testicles in seven cases (50%), the mediastinum in six cases (43%), and the brain in one case (7%). The most common metastatic site was the lungs (79%), followed by the brain (43%). All patients with PCC received cytotoxic chemotherapy. Twelve patients had records of their response to cytotoxic chemotherapy; of these 12 patients, eight (8/12, 67%) achieved an objective response, and four (4/12, 33%) achieved stable disease response as the best response during chemotherapy. Conclusion It is known that most male PCC patients eventually develop resistance to cytotoxic chemotherapy and die. Factors such as poor response to chemotherapy, high disease burden, brain metastasis, and hemoptysis at the time of diagnosis are associated with shorter survival time in male PCC patients. Programmed death-1/programmed death-ligand 1 blockade therapy can be a salvage treatment for chemotherapy-resistant male PCC patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]