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Abstract Antiapoptotic Bcl‐2 family proteins are involved in myeloma cell survival. To date, their expression in multiple myeloma (MM) patients has mostly been analyzed at the RNA level. In the present study, we quantified for the first time the protein expression of the Bcl2‐family members using a capillary electrophoresis immunoassay in 120 newly diagnosed MM patients, aged ≤65 years, treated in the context of the PETHEMA/GEM2012 study. We found that the pattern of expression of Bcl‐2 family proteins was highly heterogeneous among patients. Although cases with t(11;14) had significantly higher levels of Bcl‐2/Bcl‐xL and Bcl‐2+Bim+Bax/Bcl‐xL ratios than those without t(11;14), the presence of this translocation was not synonymous with such high levels of expression. Conversely, some patients with other genetic alterations also showed higher levels of those ratios. Survival analysis revealed that the high expression of Bad and Puma proteins was associated with significantly longer overall survival (p = 0.001 and p

Abstract Most public health measures to contain the COVID-19 pandemic are based on preventing the pathogen spread, and the use of oral antiseptics has been proposed as a strategy to reduce transmission risk. The aim of this manuscript is to test the efficacy of mouthwashes to reduce salivary viral load in vivo. This is a multi-centre, blinded, parallel-group, placebo-controlled randomised clinical trial that tests the effect of four mouthwashes (cetylpyridinium chloride, chlorhexidine, povidone-iodine and hydrogen peroxide) in SARS-CoV-2 salivary load measured by qPCR at baseline and 30, 60 and 120 min after the mouthrinse. A fifth group of patients used distilled water mouthrinse as a control. Eighty-four participants were recruited and divided into 12–15 per group. There were no statistically significant changes in salivary viral load after the use of the different mouthwashes. Although oral antiseptics have shown virucidal effects in vitro, our data show that salivary viral load in COVID-19 patients was not affected by the tested treatments. This could reflect that those mouthwashes are not effective in vivo, or that viral particles are not infective but viral RNA is still detected by PCR. Viral infectivity studies after the use of mouthwashes are therefore required. ( https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04707742 ; Identifier: NCT04707742)

This study analyzed the anti-myeloma effect of zoledronic acid monotherapy by investigating patients at the time of asymptomatic biochemical relapse. One hundred patients were randomized to receive either zoledronic acid (4 mg iv/4 weeks, 12 doses) (n=51) or not (n=49). Experimental and control groups were well balanced for disease and prognostic features. Zoledronic acid did not show an antitumor effect according to changes in M-component. However, there were fewer symptomatic progressions in the experimental group than in the control group (34 versus 41, respectively; P=0.05) resulting in a median time to symptoms of 16 versus 10 months (P=0.161). The median time to next therapy was also slightly longer for the treated group than the untreated, control group (13.4 versus 10.1 months), although the difference was not statistically significant (P=0.360). The pattern of relapses was different for treated versus control patients: progressive bone disease (8 versus 20), anemia (24 versus 18), renal dysfunction (1 versus 2), and plasmacytomas (1 versus 1, respectively). This concurred with fewer skeletal-related events in the treated group than in the control group (2 versus 14), with a projected 4-year event proportion of 6% versus 40% (P

Abstract This study examines the impact of cytogenetic abnormalities and their co‐segregation on the prognosis of newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients. The analysis included 1304 patients from four different GEM‐PETHEMA clinical trials. Genetic alterations, such as t(4;14), t(14;16), del(17p), +1q, and del(1p), were investigated using FISH on CD38 purified plasma cells. The frequency of genetic alterations detected were as follows: del(17p) in 8%, t(4;14) in 12%, t(14;16) in 3%, +1q in 43%, and del(1p) in 8%. The median follow‐up was 61 months, and the median progression‐free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were 44 months and not reached, respectively. Consistent with previous reports, the presence of t(4;14) was associated with shorter PFS and OS. In our series, the presence of t(14;16) did not impact survival, maybe due to limitations in sample size. Del(17p) was linked to poor prognosis using a cut‐off level of ≥20% positive cells, without any impact of higher cut‐off in prognosis, except for patients with clonal fraction ≥80% who had a dismal outcome. Cosegregation of cytogenetic abnormalities patients worsened the prognosis in t(4;14) patients but not in patients with del(17p), which retained its adverse prognosis even as a solitary abnormality. Gain(1q) was associated with significantly shorter PFS and OS, while del(1p) affected PFS but not OS. Nevertheless, when co‐segregation was eliminated, the detrimental effect of +1q or del(1p) was no longer observed. In conclusion, this study confirms the prognostic significance of high‐risk cytogenetic abnormalities in MM and highlights the importance of considering co‐occurrence for accurate prognosis assessment.

Abstract Therapeutic regimens for previously treated multiple myeloma (MM) may not provide prolonged disease control and are often complicated by significant adverse events, including peripheral neuropathy. In patients with previously treated MM in the Phase 3 BOSTON study, once weekly selinexor, once weekly bortezomib, and 40 mg dexamethasone (XVd) demonstrated a significantly longer median progression-free survival (PFS), higher response rates, deeper responses, a trend to improved survival, and reduced incidence and severity of bortezomib-induced peripheral neuropathy when compared with standard twice weekly bortezomib and 80 mg dexamethasone (Vd). The pre-specified analyses described here evaluated the influence of the number of prior lines of therapy, prior treatment with lenalidomide, prior proteasome inhibitor (PI) therapy, prior immunomodulatory drug therapy, and prior autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT) on the efficacy and safety of XVd compared with Vd. In this 1:1 randomized study, enrolled patients were assigned to receive once weekly oral selinexor (100 mg) with once weekly subcutaneous bortezomib (1.3 mg/m2) and 40 mg per week dexamethasone (XVd) versus standard twice weekly bortezomib and 80 mg per week dexamethasone (Vd). XVd significantly improved PFS, overall response rate, time-to-next-treatment, and showed reduced all grade and grade ≥ 2 peripheral neuropathy compared with Vd regardless of prior treatments, but the benefits of XVd over Vd were more pronounced in patients treated earlier in their disease course who had either received only one prior therapy, had never been treated with a PI, or had prior ASCT. Treatment with XVd improved outcomes as compared to Vd regardless of prior therapies as well as manageable and generally reversible adverse events. XVd was associated with clinical benefit and reduced peripheral neuropathy compared to standard Vd in previously treated MM. These results suggest that the once weekly XVd regimen may be optimally administered to patients earlier in their course of disease, as their first bortezomib-containing regimen, and in those relapsing after ASCT. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03110562). Registered 12 April 2017. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03110562 .

Plasma cell leukemia (PCL) is an aggressive hematological malignancy characterized by an uncontrolled clonal proliferation of plasma cells (PCs) in the bone marrow and peripheral blood. PCL has been defined by an absolute number of circulating PCs exceeding 2.0 × 109/L and/or >20% PCs in the total leucocyte count. It is classified as primary PCL, which develops de novo, and secondary PCL, occurring at the late and advanced stages of multiple myeloma (MM). Primary and secondary PCL are clinically and biologically two distinct entities. After the diagnosis, treatment should be immediate and should include a proteasome inhibitor and immunomodulator-based combination regimens as induction, followed by stem cell transplantation (SCT) in transplant-eligible individuals who have cleared the peripheral blood of circulating PCs. Due to the rarity of the condition, there have been very few clinical trials. Furthermore, virtually all of the myeloma trials exclude patients with active PCL. The evaluation of response has been defined by the International Myeloma Working Group and consists of both acute leukemia and MM criteria. With conventional chemotherapy, the prognosis of primary PCL has been ominous, with reported overall survival (OS) ranging from 6.8 to 12.6 months. The use of novel agents and autologous SCT appears to be associated with deeper response and an improved survival, although it still remains low. The PCL prognostic index provides a simple score to risk-stratify PCL. The prognosis of secondary PCL is extremely poor, with OS of only 1 month.

Detailed knowledge about differentiation syndrome (DS) has remained limited. There are 2 large studies conducted by the Spanish workgroup PETHEMA (Programa Español de Tratamientos en Hematología; Spanish Program on Hematology Treatments) and the European group trial (LPA 96-99 and APL 93) in which the incidence, characteristics, prognostic factors and outcome of patients developing DS are evaluated. Both have described the median time of DS development between 10 and 12 days. The severity of the DS has been evaluated in the study conducted by PETHEMA, and severe DS usually occurs at the beginning of the treatment (median of 6 days), as compared with moderate DS (median of 15 days). We report here in two cases of late severe DS, with late diagnosis due to both time and form of presentation. We discuss the physiopathology, clinical presentation, prophylaxis and treatment of DS.