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This article discusses the use of darinaparsin, a new arsenic-based agent, in the treatment of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-associated B-cell lymphoma in an elderly patient with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (AITL). The patient initially responded to chemotherapy but relapsed and progressed despite multiple treatment regimens. Darinaparsin was then administered and resulted in a partial response with reduced levels of EBV DNA. The article suggests that darinaparsin may be a potential treatment option for refractory EBV-associated B-cell lymphoma, particularly in frail patients. However, further research is needed to determine its efficacy in this specific subtype of lymphoma. The document is a consent form and disclosure statement for a research study conducted by Daisuke Ikeda, Mitsuaki Oura, Atsushi Uehara, Rikako Tabata, Kentaro Narita, Masami Takeuchi, and Kosei Matsue, and the patient involved in the study provided informed consent. The authors declare no competing interests. [Extracted from the article]

In order to elucidate the relationship between pretreatment radiomic parameters and the proportions of various tumor-infiltrating (TI) cells, we retrospectively analyzed the association of total metabolic tumor volume (TMTV) and TI cells on biopsied tumor lesions in 171 patients with newly diagnosed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). The surface markers of TI cells were analyzed by multicolor flow cytometry using a dissected single-cell suspension. In examining the correlation between TI cells and positron-emission tomography-derived parameters (maximum standardized uptake value [SUVmax], total metabolic tumor volume [TMTV], and total lesion glycolysis), intratumoral cell types minimally influenced the results, except for a weak negative correlation between CD4+ cells and SUVmax (R=-0.16, P=0.045). Even for the lesion fluorodeoxyglucose uptake at the biopsied site, CD19+ cells (indicative of malignant burden) showed only a weak correlation with the highest SUV (R=0.21, P=0.009), whereas CD3+ (R=-0.25, P=0.002) and CD4+ cells (R=-0.29, P<0.001) demonstrated a similarly weak inverse correlation. High TMTV and low TI CD4+ cells were independently associated with poor prognosis and their combination identified the most adverse population (3-year progression-free survival: 32.3%, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 19.4-53.7; 3-year overall survival: 48.4%, 95% CI: 33.6-69.6). Moreover, radiomic parameters incorporating the international prognostic index significantly improved the 3-year survival prediction (area under the curve: 0.76, P<0.05) compared to their standalone use. This study underscores the prognostic impact of TI CD4+ cells on DLBCL and suggests that integration of TMTV and TI cell analysis enhances the accuracy of prognostic prediction.

There was a global shortage of nab-paclitaxel (Abraxane Ⓡ ), a major antineoplastic agent, for a long period (from October 2021 to June 2022) because of manufacturing problems. Japan was one of the first affected countries by the depletion, and the medical institutes started to save the use of the drug in August 2021; numerous patients with gastric, breast, and lung cancer who potentially could receive benefits failed to be treated with the antineoplastic agent; thus, they opted for alternative treatments. Meanwhile, the hospitals in the United States and some countries continued to consume nab-paclitaxel at a regular pace as usual and then the worldwide depletion occurred in October 2021. Early communications about the drug shortage between authorities worldwide might have soothed the depletion; effective platforms for global information sharing would be necessary in order to secure the access to anticancer agents., Competing Interests: HS received an honorarium from Taiho Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. outside of this work. YN received personnel fee from MRT Inc. outside of the submitted work., (Copyright © Japan Medical Association.)