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Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are a group of clonal marrow stem cell disorders characterized by progressive peripheral cytopenias and ineffective hematopoiesis with an associated risk of progress...

Cytotoxic chemotherapy has inherent mutagenic potential and alters the bone marrow microenvironment after therapy. In some cases, this potentiates expansion of an aberrant clone and may lead to a therapy-related myeloid neoplasm if the clone overcomes selective pressure. We present the case of a 43-year-old woman diagnosed with an indolent, therapy-related myeloid neoplasm with an isolated chromosome 6p abnormality following treatment for de novo Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML), who manifest a sustained spontaneous cytogenetic remission two years later, possibly due to an ineffectual or non-dominant founding clone. This case reminds us to be mindful of the possibility that clonal haematopoiesis may not always equate to clinically relevant disease, even in the setting of an abnormal clonal karyotype.

PURPOSE: Development of secondary central nervous system involvement (SCNS) in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma is associated with poor outcomes. The CNS International Prognostic Index (CNS-IPI) has been proposed for identifying patients at greatest risk, but the optimal model is unknown.METHODS: We retrospectively analysed patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma diagnosed between 2001 and 2013, staged with PET/CT and treated with R-CHOP(-like) regimens. Baseline clinicopathologic characteristics, treatments, and outcome data were collected from clinical databases and medical files. We evaluated the association between candidate prognostic factors and modelled different risk models for predicting SCNS.RESULTS: Of 1532 patients, 62 (4%) subsequently developed SCNS. By multivariate analysis, disease stage III/IV, elevated serum LDH, kidney/adrenal and uterine/testicular involvement were independently associated with SCNS. There was a strong correlation between absolute number of extranodal sites and risk of SCNS; the 144 patients (9%) with >2 extranodal sites had a 3-year cumulative incidence of SCNS of 15.2% (95% confidence interval [CI] 9.2-21.2%) compared with 2.6% (95% CI 1.7-3.5) among those with ≤2 sites (P < 0.001). The 3-year cumulative risks of SCNS for CNS-IPI defined risk groups were 11.2%, 3.1% and 0.4% for high-, intermediate- and low-risk patients, respectively. All risk models analysed had high negative predictive values, but only modest positive predictive values.CONCLUSIONS: Patients with >2 extranodal sites or high-risk disease according to the CNS-IPI should be considered for baseline CNS staging. Clinical risk prediction models suffer from limited positive predictive ability, highlighting the need for more sensitive biomarkers to identify patients at highest risk of this devastating complication.

Malignancy complicates ∼0.1% of pregnancies [1,2]. Lymphoma is the fourth most common malignancy so implicated (∼1 in 6000 pregnancies) [3]. Most such instances are Hodgkin lymphoma, where the peak...

Involvement of the internal female reproductive organs by diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is uncommon, and there are sparse data describing the outcomes of such cases. In total, 678 female patients with DLBCL staged with positron emission tomography/computed tomography and treated with rituximab-containing chemotherapy were identified from databases in Denmark, Great Britain, Australia, and Canada. Overall, 27/678 (4%) had internal reproductive organ involvement: uterus (n = 14), ovaries (n = 10) or both (n = 3). In multivariate analysis, women with uterine DLBCL experienced inferior progression-free survival and overall survival compared to those without reproductive organ involvement, whereas ovarian DLBCL was not predictive of outcome. Secondary central nervous system (CNS) involvement (SCNS) occurred in 7/17 (41%) women with uterine DLBCL (two patients with concomitant ovarian DLBCL) and 0/10 women with ovarian DLBCL without concomitant uterine involvement. In multivariate analysis adjusted for other risk factors for SCNS, uterine involvement by DLBCL remained strongly associated with SCNS (Hazard ratio 14·13, 95% confidence interval 5·09-39·25, P < 0·001). Because involvement of the uterus by DLBCL appears to be associated with a high risk of SCNS, those patients should be considered for CNS staging and prophylaxis. However, more studies are needed to determine whether the increased risk of secondary CNS involvement also applies to women with localized reproductive organ DLBCL.

Isolated splenic inflammatory pseudotumors (IPT) are extremely rare, typically benign, inflammatory lesions with varied clinical presentations that pose a diagnostic challenge to clinicians due to their similarity in appearance to neoplasms. We present the case of a young woman diagnosed with a splenic IPT following investigation for persistent anemia, raised inflammatory markers, and polyclonal hyper-gammaglobulinemia, whose symptoms resolved completely following splenectomy. This case highlights the need to consider this diagnosis when evaluating patients with a splenic mass of unknown etiology.

We present an uncommon case of allograft adenovirus tubulointerstitial nephritis in a 63-year-old male 6 weeks following cadaveric renal transplantation for end-stage renal failure secondary to hypertensive nephrosclerosis. The patient presented with acute onset of fevers, dysuria, haematuria and diarrhoea with acute graft dysfunction. A renal biopsy demonstrated necrotizing tubulointerstitial nephritis with viral cytopathic changes and no evidence of rejection. Adenovirus was identified as the pathogen. Treatment involved the reduction in the patient's usual immunosuppression, intravenous immunoglobulin, piperacillin–tazobactam and ganciclovir. We present the clinical and pathological findings of necrotizing adenoviral nephropathy, highlighting the importance of considering this diagnosis in renal transplant recipients presenting with interstitial nephritis in the setting of a systemic illness.

Background Central nervous system (CNS) relapse in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is an infrequent but devastating complication. The German Risk model which includes the 5 IPI risk factors plus involvement of the kidneys has been validated in 2 large independent cohorts (Schmitz, ICML 2013; Savage, ASH 2014; El-Galaly, ICML 2015). In this model, the presence of >1 extranodal site of involvement contributes only 1 point. However, the precise impact of the extent of extranodal disease in PET-CT staged patients is unknown. Patients and Methods We identified patients with newly diagnosed DLBCL presenting to hospitals in Denmark, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia through systematic searches of national/local lymphoma registries. Inclusion criteria were: staging included PET-CT, primary treatment with R-CHOP or similar regimen ± CNS prophylaxis. Patients treated with high-dose regimens (such as R-HyperCVAD) and those with CNS involvement at diagnosis were excluded. Medical records and PET-CT reports were reviewed for clinical information and outcome. Multiple lesions in one organ or set of paired organs/ tissue were counted as a single extranodal site, and the spleen and Waldeyer's ring were not included as extranodal sites. Time to CNS relapse was determined using the method of Kaplan and Meier, with univariate analysis of absolute number of extranodal sites associated with CNS relapse performed using competing risk regression with death before CNS relapse as competing risk. Multivariate analyses (adjusted for elevated LDH, age>60 y and performance status>1) were performed using Cox proportional hazards to identify the specific increase in risk attributable to the absolute number of extranodal sites of involvement. Involvement of the kidney/adrenals and advanced disease stage were not included in the adjustment because of their intrinsic relationship to number of extranodal sites. Results 1,536 patients meeting the above criteria were included, with the following characteristics: median age 65 y (range 17-92), 63% stage III/IV, 39% B symptoms, 50% elevated LDH, 15% performance status >1 and 39%, 36%, 15%, 6% and 3% had 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4+ extranodal sites of involvement, respectively. 79% received no specific CNS-directed prophylaxis; 8% received intrathecal chemotherapy alone, 5% received systemic high-dose anti-metabolites and 8% received both intrathecal and systemic. After a median follow-up of 41 (interquartile range 28-61) months, 62 (4%) patients developed CNS relapse at a median of 9 (range 4-78) months from initial diagnosis. The 3-y incidence of CNS relapse, unadjusted and adjusted hazard ratios for CNS relapse according to number of extranodal sites of involvement are presented in Table 1 . The competing risk regression analysis for CNS relapse using absolute number of extranodal sites of involvement is displayed in Figure 1 ; >2 vs 2 or fewer extranodal sites was associated with markedly increased risk of CNS progression ( P 60 y and performance status >1 ![Figure 1.][1] Figure 1. Competing risk regression analysis depicting cumulative incidence of CNS relapse according to absolute number of extranodal sites of involvement. Disclosures Hutchings: Takeda: Research Funding. Connors: Roche: Research Funding; Seattle Genetics: Research Funding. Seymour: Incyte: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; AbbVie: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel support, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Roche: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel support, Research Funding; Phebra: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Infinity: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel support, Speakers Bureau; Janssen: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Takeda: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Gilead: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Genentech, Inc.: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Villa: Roche: Research Funding. [1]: pending:yes