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Introduction High-dose melphalan (HD-Mel) has been successfully employed in autografting patients with multiple myeloma. An advantage of this regimen is that the total dose of Mel can be delivered in a single day, being particularly useful when non-frozen hematopoietic stem cells are employed in the autograft.Material and Methods All consecutive patients with R/R lymphomas, both HL and NHL studied and treated at two different centers were prospectively included in a study of ASCT employing a single dose of HD-Mel (200 mg/m2). A group of R/R HL or NHL autografted employing BEAM-like preparative regimens was constructed matched by diagnosis and age. The primary endpoint of the study was overall survival (OS), the secondary endpoint was event-free survival (EFS).Results Twenty-five R/R HL/NHL patients were prospectively accrued in the study. There were 8 (32%) females, 13 (52%) patients had at least 1 adverse effect: 7 (28%) developed mucositis, 5 (20%) neutropenic fever, and 6 (24%) grade IV nausea. In the HD-Mel group, median overall survival (OS) was not achieved and OS at 36 months was 71%, the transplant-related mortality being 0%. In the control group, median OS was not achieved and the 36-month OS was 76%, results not statistically significant (p 0.5). The EFS was also similar in both groups (p 0.5).Conclusion HD-Mel alone is non-inferior to a BEAM-like regimen as a preparative regimen for autografting patients with R/R HL and NHL. The regimen is adequate to graft persons with non-frozen stem cells.

Objective. It has been reported that breastfeeding for 6 and 12 months reduced 20% and 27% of the risk of childhood leukemia, respectively. We present the results of a case–control study about breastfeeding and B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-cell ALL) risk in a Mexican pediatric population. Patients and methods. We conducted a case–control study, and a 20-question survey was applied to the patient’s parents. A patient was considered to have been nursed if they received at least 1 month of breastfeeding. For the control group, patients who attended our hospital’s Healthy Child Care Clinic were consecutively selected. Results. The absence of breastfeeding was associated with an odds ratios (OR) of 2.7 for the further development of B-cell ALL. For the subsequent presence of malignancy, the group with 0-1 month of lactation showed an OR of 3.1 compared to the group with more than 6 months of breastfeeding. Conclusions. In the present study, the absence of breastfeeding in our population was associated with an increased risk for the further development of B-cell ALL. Furthermore, it was found that a lower risk for later development of B-cell ALL in their offspring was associated with a lower maternal age.

Objective: Human immune recognition of self and foreign is partially controlled by a set of genes in the human leukocyte antigen complex (HLA). HLA is the most polymorphic region in the human genome, and it is used to assure compatibility between donor and recipient for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. There are six “classical” HLA genes encoding highly polymorphic loci: HLA-A, B, and C (Class I major histocompatibility complex), and HLA DR, DQ, and DP (Class II). This study aims to quantify the frequency of HLA A, B, C, DRB1, and DQB1 alleles taken in a transplant center in the northeastern part of Mexico. Methods: Descriptive and retrospective data of HLA typing by polymerase chain reactions-SSP for class I and II HLA in our Institution were analyzed. Tests for HLA-A, B, C, DRB1, and DQB1 were performed in 1614 patients. The number of haplotypes found was 726. Results: The most common combinations were A*02, B*35, C*04, DRB1*08, and DQB1*04, which were observed 38 times (5.2%). Conclusion: The most frequent HLA alleles were HLA-A2 and HLA-DQ 03, respectively, with a frequency of 0.2961 and 0.2758.