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Therapy-related myeloid neoplasms (t-MN) may occur as a late effect of cytotoxic therapy for a primary malignancy or autoimmune diseases in susceptible individuals. We studied the development of somatic mutations in t-MN, using a collection of followup samples from 14 patients with a primary hematologic malignancy, who developed a secondary leukemia (13 t-MN and 1 t-acute lymphoblastic leukemia), at a median latency of 73 months (range 18-108) from primary cancer diagnosis. Using Sanger and next generation sequencing (NGS) approaches we identified 8 mutations (IDH1 R132H, ASXL1 Y591*, ASXL1 S689*, ASXL1 R693*, SRSF2 P95H, SF3B1 K700E, SETBP1 G870R and TP53 Y220C) in seven of thirteen t-MN patients (54%), whereas the t-ALL patient had a t(4,11) translocation, resulting in the KMT2A/ AFF1 fusion gene. These mutations were then tracked backwards in marrow samples preceding secondary leukemia occurrence, using pyrosequencing and a NGS protocol that allows the detection of low variant allele frequencies (≥0.1%). Somatic mutations were detectable in the BM harvested at the primary diagnosis, prior to any cytotoxic treatment in three patients, while they were not detectable and apparently acquired by the t-MN clone in five patients. These data show that clonal evolution in t-MN is heterogeneous, with some somatic mutations preceding cytotoxic treatment and possibly favoring leukemic development.

Invasive fungal infections (IFIs) are an important cause of morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised patients. Patients with hematological malignancies undergoing conventional chemotherapy, autologous or allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation are considered at high risk, and Aspergillus spp. represents the most frequently isolated micro-organisms. In the last years, attention has also been focused on other rare molds (e.g., Zygomycetes, Fusarium spp.) responsible for devastating clinical manifestations. The extensive use of antifungal prophylaxis has reduced the infections from yeasts (e.g., candidemia) even though they are still associated with high mortality rates. This paper analyzes concurrent multiple predisposing factors that could favor the onset of fungal infections. Although neutropenia is common to almost all hematologic patients, other factors play a key role in specific patients, in particular in patients with AML or allogeneic HSCT recipients. Defining those patients at higher risk of IFIs may help to design the most appropriate diagnostic work-up and antifungal strategy.

The incidence of invasive fungal disease (IFD) has varied during the last decades. However, over the years, we have observed a progressive reduction of mortality, mainly due to wider use of prophylactic antifungal therapy (i.e., new azoles, such as posaconazole), the development of new and more effective antifungal drugs (lipid compounds of amphotericin B, candins, and azoles of the previous generation) and improvement of diagnostic tools. Based on a number of international studies across three decades, the attributable mortality rate for IFD and invasive aspergillosis (IA) among patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) has progressively declined. In the first report, in 2001, the attributable mortality rate for aspergillosis observed in AML patients by the GIMEMA (Gruppo Italiano Malattie Ematologiche Maligne dell'Adulto) group was near 60%. A subsequent multicenter Italian study by SEIFEM (Sorveglianza Epidemiologica Infezioni Fungine nelle Emopatie Maligne) reported an attributable mortality of 38% among 3,012 patients recruited from 1999 through 2003. Further reduction to 27% was reported for patients diagnosed between 2004 and 2007 in another SEIFEM study. Over the last few years, a different trend in mortality for IA has been observed in the various phases of therapy in patients with acute leukemia: while in the induction phase of treatment, characterized by a higher incidence of IA, we observed a reduction of mortality over the years, among relapsed/refractory patients, the mortality remains dramatically high.

Higher-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are rarely curable and have a poor prognosis. We investigated the accuracy of physicians' perception of patients' health status and the patients' preferences for involvement in treatment decisions. We examined 280 newly diagnosed higher-risk elderly MDS patients paired with their physicians. Survey tools included the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire-Core 30 (EORTC QLQ-C30) and the Control Preference Scale. Overall concordance was 49% for physician perception of patient preferences for involvement in treatment decisions. In 36.4% of comparisons there were minor differences and in 14.6% there were major differences. In 44.7% of the patients preferring a passive role, physicians perceived them as preferring an active or collaborative role. Absence of the patient's request for prognostic information (P=0.001) and judging the patient as having a poor health status (P=0.036) were factors independently associated with the physicians' attitude toward a lower degree of patient involvement in clinical decisions. Agreement on health status was found in 27.5% of cases. Physicians most frequently tended to overestimate health status of patients who reported low-level health status. The value of decision aid-tools in the challenging setting of higher-risk MDS should be investigated to further promote patient-centered care.

Deferasirox (DFX) is an orally administered iron chelator approved for use in patients with transfusion-dependent iron overload due to myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). The safety and efficacy of DFX has been explored in clinical trial settings, but there is little data on unselected patients with MDS. The aim of this study was to retrospectively evaluate the safety, compliance, efficacy and effect on haematopoiesis of DFX in a large 'real-world' MDS population. One hundred and eighteen patients with transfusion-dependent MDS were treated with DFX across 11 centres in Italy. Serum ferritin levels, haematological response, dosing, adverse events and transfusion dependence were recorded at baseline, 3, 6, 12 and 24 months following initiation of treatment. DFX reduced mean serum ferritin levels from 1790 to 1140 ng/mL (P < 0.001), with 7.1% of patients achieving transfusion independence. Significant haematological improvement was seen in erythroid (17.6%), platelet (5.9%) and neutrophil counts (7.1%). Adverse events were reported in 47.5% of patients, including gastrointestinal and renal toxicity. Regression analysis showed that higher starting doses of DFX are associated with transfusion independence at 24 months. DFX is a safe, effective treatment for transfusion-dependent MDS that can lead to transfusion independence and haematological improvement in a subset of patients.

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The primary objective of this study was to investigate factors associated with fatigue severity in newly diagnosed patients with higher-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). The secondary objectives were to assess symptom prevalence and to examine the relationships between fatigue, quality of life (QoL) and overall symptom burden in these patients. The analyses were conducted in 280 higher-risk MDS patients. Pre-treatment patient-reported fatigue was evaluated with the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy (FACIT)-Fatigue scale and QoL was assessed with the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire-Core 30 (EORTC QLQ-C30). Female gender (P = 0·018), poor performance status (i.e., ECOG of 2-4) (P < 0·001) and lower levels of haemoglobin (Hb) (P = 0·026) were independently associated with higher fatigue severity. The three most prevalent symptoms were as follows: fatigue (92%), dyspnoea (63%) and pain (55%). Patients with higher levels of fatigue also had greater overall symptom burdens. The mean global QoL scores of patients with the highest versus those with the lowest levels of fatigue were 29·2 [standard deviation (SD), 18·3] and 69·0 (SD, 18·8), respectively and this difference was four times the magnitude of a clinically meaningful difference. Patient-reported fatigue severity revealed the effects of disease burden on overall QoL more accurately than did degree of anaemia. Special attention should be given to the female patients in the management of fatigue.

Therapy-related myeloid neoplasms (t-MN) are myeloid disorders, including acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) developing in patients treated with radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy for cancer or autoimmune diseases. Cytotoxic therapy may induce chromosomal alteration and genetic mutations in hematopoietic progenitors leading to leukemogenesis in susceptible subjects. t-MNs are characterized by high incidence of complex karyotypes and frequent monosomies and/or deletions of chromosomes 7 and/or 5,1 whereas the recently identified mutations of epigenetic regulators and of the spliceosome machinery are rare, with the exception of SRSF2.2,3 Recently, new sequencing technologies have enabled large screening of somatic mutations in myeloid malignancies, leading to the discovery of new hot spot mutations in genes candidate for leukemic transformation. Among these, SET binding protein 1 (SETBP1) has been reported as frequently mutated in chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML), atypical chronic myeloid leukemia (aCML), secondary acute myeloid leukemia (s-AML) and in distinct subgroups of primary myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), such as refractory anemia with excess of blasts (RAEB1 and RAEB2).4-10 SETBP1 germ-line mutations are responsible for the Schinzel-Giedion syndrome (SGS), originally identified by Albert Schinzel and Andreas Giedion in 1978. It is a congenital disease characterized by a higher prevalence of tumors, severe mid-face hypoplasia, congenital heart defect and skeletal anomalies.11 The SETBP1 gene is localized on chromosome 18q21.1 and the missense mutations are predominantly located in the SKI-homologous region, mainly between codon 858 and 871. Makishima et al. have previously shown a significant association between SETBP1 mutations and −7/del(7q) abnormalities (15 of 72; P=0.01) in a large cohort of 727 patients with myeloid malignancies.4 SETBP1 mutations were more frequent in AML evolving from a previous MDS, and CMML patients

Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are common in elderly patients. Recombinant human erythro-poietin (rHuEPO) has been widely used to treat anemia in lower risk MDS patients, but few data are known about rHuEPO treatment in the very elderly patient group. In order to investigate the role of rHuEPO treatment in terms of response, overall survival (OS), and toxicity in a very elderly MDS patient group, 93 MDS patients treated with rHuEPO when aged ≥80 years were selected among MDS cases enrolled in a retrospective multicenter study by the cooperative group Gruppo Romano Mielodisplasie (GROM) from Jan 2002 to Dec 2010. At baseline, median age was 82.7 (range 80-99.1) with a median hemoglobin (Hb) level of 9 g/dl (range 6-10.8). The initial dose of rHuEPO was standard (epoetin alpha 40,000 IU/week or epoetin beta 30,000 IU/week) in 59 (63.4 %) pa-tients or high in 34 (36.6 %) (epoetin alpha 80,000 IU/week) patients. We observed an erythroid response (ER) in 59 (63.4 %) patients. No thrombotic event was reported. Independent predictive factors for ER were low transfusion requirement before treatment (p = 0.004), ferritin <200 ng/ml (p = 0.017), Hb >8 g/dl (p = 0.034), and a high-dose rHuEPO treatment (p = 0.032). Median OS from rHuEPO start was 49.3 months (95 % CI 27.5-68.4) in responders versus 30.6 months (95 % CI 7.3-53.8) in resistant patients (p = 0.185). In conclusion, rHuEPO treatment is safe and effective also in the very elderly MDS patients. However, further larger studies are warranted to evaluate if EPO treatment could be worthwhile in terms of quality of life and cost-efficacy in very old patients.

The azanucleotides azacitidine and decitabine have been shown to induce hematologic response and prolong survival in higher-risk myelodysplastic syndromes. They are inhibitors of DNA methyltransferase-1 and induce DNA-hypomethylation. Induction of apoptosis is also clinically relevant, in particular during the first treatment cycles, when cytopenia is a frequent side-effect. Since the hypomethylating effect is reversible, and the malignant clone has been shown to persist in most responding patients, several cycles are necessary to achieve and maintain responses, while treatment interruption is associated with rapid relapse. Methylation studies have shown global and gene-specific hypermethylation in myelodysplastic syndromes, but there seems to be little relation between the degree of demethylation following hypomethylating treatment and hematologic response. The presence of concurrent genomic hypermethylation and hypomethylation may impair the predictive power of current detection techniques. This scenario has been complicated by the identification of epigenetic enzyme mutations, including TET2, IDH1/2, DNMT3A and EZH2, which are important for response to hypomethylating treatment. Changes in azanucleotide metabolism genes may also play a role. In the future, methylation analysis concentrating not only on promoters, but also on gene bodies and intergenic regions, may identify key genes in patients with the highest probability of response to azanucleotides and allow a patient-tailored approach.

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Therapy-related myeloid neoplasms (t-MNs) are an increasingly recognized complication in patients previously treated with radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy for cancer or autoimmune disease. Single nucleotide variants (SNVs) in genes involved in the cellular pathways of detoxification, DNA repair and apoptosis may modify the individual risk of developing a t-MN. We studied the frequency of the SNVs of six genes involved in xenobiotic detoxification (CYP3A4, NQO1, GSTA1, GSTM1, GSTP1 and GSTT1), two DNA repair genes (RAD51 and XRCC3) and one key regulator of apoptosis (BCL2L10) in a case-control study including 111 cases of t-MN and 259 controls. This is the first report on the prevalence of BCL2L10 Leu21Arg polymorphism in myeloid malignancies. In this line, we also tested 146 cases of de novo myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and 109 cases of de novo acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Our results showed a significantly lower frequency of the BCL2L10-21Arg allele in patients with t-MN and de novo MDS compared to controls (Leu/Arg + Arg/Arg: 50.6% vs. 65.9%, p = 0.017 and 45.8% vs. 65.9%, p = 0.0003, respectively). Carriers of the BCL2L10-21Arg variant have a reduced risk of developing t-MN and de novo MDS.complication in patients previously treated with radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy for cancer or autoimmune disease. Single nucleotide variants (SNVs) in genes involved in the cellular pathways of detoxification, DNA repair and apoptosis may modify the individual risk of developing a t-MN. We studied the frequency of the SNVs of six genes involved in xenobiotic detoxification (CYP3A4, NQO1, GSTA1, GSTM1, GSTP1 and GSTT1), two DNA repair genes (RAD51 and XRCC3) and one key regulator of apoptosis (BCL2L10) in a case-control study including 111 cases of t-MN and 259 controls. This is the first report on the prevalence of BCL2L10 Leu21Arg polymorphism in myeloid malignancies. In this line, we also tested 146 cases of de novo myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and 109 cases of de novo

PURPOSE: The definition of disease-specific prognostic scores plays a fundamental role in the treatment decision-making process in myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), a group of myeloid disorders characterized by a heterogeneous clinical behavior. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We applied the recently published Revised International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS-R) to 380 patients with MDS, registered in an Italian regional database, recruiting patients from the city of Rome (Gruppo Romano Mielodisplasie). Patients were selected based on the availability of IPSS-R prognostic factors, including complete peripheral-blood and bone marrow counts, informative cytogenetics, and follow-up data. RESULTS: We validated the IPSS-R score as a significant predictor of overall survival (OS) and leukemia-free survival (LFS) in MDS (P < .001 for both). When comparing the prognostic value of the International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS), WHO Prognostic Scoring System (WPSS), and IPSS-R, using the Cox regression model and the likelihood ratio test, a significantly higher predictive power for LFS and OS became evident for the IPSS-R, compared with the IPSS and WPSS (P < .001 for both). The multivariate analysis, including IPSS, WPSS, age, lactate dehydrogenase, ferritin concentration, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status, transfusion dependency, and type of therapy, confirmed the significant prognostic value of IPSS-R subgroups for LFS and OS. Treatment with lenalidomide and erythropoiesis-stimulating agents was shown to be an independent predictor of survival in the multivariate analysis. CONCLUSION: Our data confirm that the IPSS-R is an excellent prognostic tool in MDS in the era of disease-modifying treatments. The early recognition of patients at high risk of progression to aggressive disease may optimize treatment timing in MDS.

Background. Patients with Myelodysplastic Syndromes are at increased risk of infections not only because of the reduced number of granulocytes, but also for their functional abnormalities. Myelodysplastic neutrophils were shown to present impaired fungicidal and bactericidal activities and reduced chemotaxis. PTEN/PI3K/AKT pathway plays a crucial role in mediating cellular response to chemotactic stimuli. Aims. To study gene expression of PTEN/PI3K/AKT signaling pathways in myelodysplastic granulocytes compared to the normal counterpart. Methods. We evaluated PTEN mRNA expression in peripheral blood granulocytes isolated by Ficoll gradient centrifugation and osmotic erythrolysis from 30 patients with MDS and 12 normal controls by Sybr Green-based realtime RT-PCR, using Abl as reference gene. Data were expressed as 2-ΔCt. DNA methylation of two regions of the PTEN promoter (from -1223 bp to -1123 bp and from -300 bp to -128 bp) was studied by Methylation-specific PCR on bisulfite-treated DNA from 19 MDS and 6 controls. The gene expression profile of 84 genes belonging to the PTEN/PI3K/AKT signaling pathway was studied on granulocytes from 10 MDS patients and 10 matched normal control using the Human PI3K-AKT Signaling Pathway RT² Profiler® PCR Arrays (SABiosciences, Qiagen). Patients’ cohort used for PCR arrays included the following MDS subtypes: 2 RCMD, 2 RAEB1, 4 RAEB2, 1 CMML and 1 t-MDS. Selected housekeeping genes were GAPDH, RPL13A and HPRT1. Data analysis was performed using the RT² Profiler® PCR Array Analysis Template v3.3. Results. PTEN mRNA was significantly down-regulated in myelodysplastic versus normal granulocytes (median 157,59 and 401,22, respectively, p=0.029). No significant differences in PTEN mRNA levels were observed in different MDS subtypes. PTEN promoter was not methylated in MDS and control granulocytes. Ten genes belonging to the PTEN/PI3K/AKT signaling pathway were found to be significantly down-regulated in MDS versus controls, including

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BACKGROUND: Therapy-related myeloid neoplasms (t-MN), including myelodysplastic syndromes and acute myeloid leukemia (t-MDS and t-AML) are associated to clinical and biologic unfavorable prognostic features, including high levels of DNA methylation. METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated 50 t-MN patients (34 MDS and 16 AML) selected among all patients receiving azacitidine (AZA) at 10 Italian Hematology Centers. Patients had developed a t-MN at a median of 6.5 years (range 1.7- 29) after treatment of the primary tumor (hematological neoplasm, 27 patients; solid tumor, 23 patients). RESULTS: The overall response rate was 42% (complete remission: 10 patients, partial remission: 2 and hematological improvement: 8 patients) and was obtained after a median of 3 cycles (range 1-6). Median overall survival (OS) was 21 months (range 1-53.6+) from AZA start. OS was significantly better in patients with less than 20% blasts, in normal karyotype t-AML and when AZA was used as front-line treatment. This was confirmed by the multivariate analysis. CONCLUSIONS: This study reports efficacy of AZA in the largest series of therapy-related MN patients treated with 5-AZA. Our data show that blasts and karyotype maintain their important prognostic role in t-MN also in the azacitidine era.

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Hypomethylating drugs are useful in the management of Myelodysplastic syndromes, but there are only few reports on chronic myelomonocycitic (CMML) leukemia patients. We describe our experience in 3 CMML patients treated with azacitidine. Two patients obtained partial response after 4 treatment cycles with only minor toxicity and are in continuous partial response, with stable peripheral blood counts, at 29 and 30 cycles from treatment start.