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Background: Aspergillus species meet the most important group of invasive fungal diseases (IFD) in immunosuppressed patients. Galactomannan is a polysaccharide antigen located in the wall structure of Aspergillus. The most commonly used method for antigen detection is enzymelinked immunoassay (ELISA). Aspergillus galactomannan Lateral Flow Assay (LFA) constitutes one of the new methods in the diagnosis of invasive aspergillosis (IA). The goal of this study is to demonstrate efficacy of LFA in our patients and to compare it to synchronous ELISA results. Methods: Galactomannan antigen was examined using both LFA and ELISA in serum samples taken from patients who were followed up in our hematology clinic. All patients are classified in subgroups as "proven", "probable", and “possible" patients according to the last EORTC / MSG guideline. Patients who met the “proven" IA criteria were included in the study as the gold standard. Results: A total of 87 patients were included in the study. Majority of patients had acute myeloid leukemia (AML) (56.3%). Eleven (12.6%) were in "proven" IA group. LFA test showed a superior diagnostic performance compared to ELISA (LFAAUC = 0.934 vs ELISAAUC = 0.545; p

Introduction In this study, we aim to report the outcome of COVID‐19 in patients with hematological malignancy in Turkey. Method The data of laboratory‐confirmed 188,897 COVID‐19 patients diagnosed between March 11, 2020 and June 22, 2020 included in the Republic of Turkey, Ministry of Health database were analyzed retrospectively. All of the COVID‐19 patients with hematological malignancy (n=740) were included in the study and an age, gender and comorbidity matched COVID‐19 patients without cancer (n=740) at 1:1 ratio was used for comparison. Results Non Hodgkin lymphoma (30.1%), myelodysplastic syndrome (19.7%), myeloproliferative neoplasm (15.7%), were the most common hematological malignancies. The rates of severe and critical disease were significantly higher in patients with hematological malignancy compared to the patients without cancer (p=0.001). The rates of hospital and intensive care unit (ICU) admission were higher in patients with hematological malignancy compared to the patients without cancer (p=0.023, p=0.001, respectively). The length of hospital stay and ICU stay were similar between groups (p=0.7, p=0.3; retrospectively). The rate of mechanical ventilation (MV) support was higher in patients with hematological malignancy compared to the control group (p=0.001). The case fatality rate (CFR) was 13.8% in patients with hematological malignancy, and it was 6.8% in the control group (p=0.001). Conclusion This study reveals that there is an increased risk of COVID‐19 related serious events (ICU admission, MV support or death) in patients with hematological malignancy compared to COVID‐19 patients without cancer and supports high vulnerability of patients with hematological malignancy in the current pandemic. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

WOS: 000425633300017, PubMed ID: 28707314, Nodular lymphocyte predominant Hodgkin's lymphoma (NLPHL) is a rare subtype of Hodgkin's lymphoma. In this study, we aimed to investigate the clinical features and therapeutic outcomes of patients with NLPHL who were diagnosed at different institutes in Turkey. We retrospectively reviewed the records of the patients diagnosed with NLPHL. Adult patients who were diagnosed after 2005 with histological confirmation were selected for the study. Forty-three patients were included in the study. Median age of patients was 37.5years (18-70) at the time of diagnosis. About 60.5% patients were diagnosed as stage I and II NLPHL, and remaining 39.5% had stage III and IV disease. Median follow-up was 46months. During follow-up, none of the patients died. Seven patients relapsed or progressed after initial therapy at a median of 12months. Five of 7 relapsed/refractory patients (71.4%) were salvaged with chemotherapy only (DHAP, ICE), and the remaining 2 (28.6%) were salvaged with chemoimmunotherapy. All of relapsed/refractory patients were able to achieve complete remission after salvage therapy. Lactate dehydrogenase levels were significantly higher in patients with progressive disease compared with nonprogressive disease. Our study showed an excellent outcome with all patients alive at last contact with a median follow up of 46months despite a wide range of different therapeutic approaches. All relapsed and refractory patients were successfully salvaged despite a low frequency of patients received immunotherapy in conjunction with chemotherapy. Our results suggest that immunotherapy may be reserved for further relapses.

In this multicenter retrospective analysis, we aimed to present clinical, laboratory and treatment results of 94 patients with Hairy cell leukemia diagnosed in 13 centers between 1990 and 2014. Sixty-six of the patients were males and 28 were females, with a median age of 55. Splenomegaly was present in 93.5% of cases at diagnosis. The laboratory findings that came into prominence were pancytopenia with grade 3 bone marrow fibrosis. Most of the patients with an indication for treatment were treated with cladribine as first-line treatment. Total and complete response of cladribine was 97.3% and 80.7%. The relapse rate after cladribine was 16.6%, and treatment related mortality was 2.5%. Most preferred therapy (95%) was again cladribine at second-line, and third line with CR rate of 68.4% and 66.6%, respectively. The 28-month median OS was 91.7% in all patients and 25-month median OS 96% for patients who were given cladribine as first-line therapy. In conclusion, the first multicenter retrospective Turkish study where patients with HCL were followed up for a long period has revealed demographic characteristics of patients with HCL, and confirmed that cladribine treatment might be safe and effective in a relatively large series of the Turkish study population.

Aims We aimed to investigate whether older age leads to limitations in the starting dose of imatinib in daily treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia, and to determine the compliance of elderly patients with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) therapy. Methods Data including the clinical characteristics, therapeutic outcomes and compliance with TKI therapy of elderly patients with chronic myeloid leukemia aged >65 years were collected from 13 institutions in Turkey, retrospectively. Results A total of 69 patients (27 [39%] men, 42 [61%] women) were evaluated retrospectively. The median age of the patients was 71 years (range 66–85 years). Of the patients, 66 (96%) were in the chronic phase and three (4.3%) were in the accelerated phase when diagnosed. A total of 63 (91.3%) patients were receiving imatinib as the first-line therapy. The initial dose of imatinib was 400 mg/day in 59 patients (93.6%). Imatinib treatment induced 57 (90.5%) complete hematological responses at 3 months, 29 (46%) complete cytogenetic responses at 6 months and 49 (77.7%) major molecular responses at 12 months. As a result, nilotinib and dasatinib were used in 14 patients as second-line therapy. Second-line TKI induced nine complete hematological responses (64.3%) at 3 months, four complete cytogenetic responses (28.6%) at 12 months and seven major molecular responses (50%) at 18 months. A total of 56 of the patients (81.2%) are still alive. The median overall survival and progression-free survival rates were 35 months (range 1–95 months) and 17 months (range 0.8–95 months), respectively. Conclusion Elderly patients should receive TKI according to the same guidelines that apply to younger patients. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2015; 15: 729–735.