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•MYLACRE highlights shortcomings in the management of myeloma in Latin America, with differences between public and private health systems.

Introduction:T cell lymphomas (NHL-T) account for 10-15% of all non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL). They are a heterogeneous group of infrequent neoplasms with a variable clinical course but prevalently aggressive behavior and high mortality rates. Diagnosis is still challenging and there has been little change in the overall prognosis over the last two decades. In spite of IPI (International Prognostic Index) that include extranodal (EN) site in its variables, lack is known regarding EN involvement in nodal peripheral T cell lymphomas- PTCL (PTCL-NOS, TFH and ALCL ALK+/ALK-) location or impact on prognosis).

Background:To be useful across the broadest range of patients and clinical settings, clinical prediction models should be externally validated in different data sets and clinical settings and refined over time. In 2022, the HoLISTIC Consortium (www.hodgkinconsortium.org) developed and validated the A-HIPI model via TRIPOD guidelines for adults 18-65 with advanced stage classic Hodgkin Lymphoma (AS-HL) (Rodday et al., JCO2023). The A-HIPI model, based on individual patient (pt) data from more than 5000 patients (pts) from North America, Europe, and Australia, predicts progression-free survival and overall survival within the first 5 years (PFS5 and OS5) based on pre-treatment pt and disease characteristics (www.qxmd.com/calculate/calculator_869/a-hipi). In collaboration with Brazilian clinical experts and researchers, we describe the performance of the A-HIPI in the Brazilian Prospective HL registry.

Despite all the scientific progress that has been made on understanding the disease, prognosis for patients with relapsed and refractory Hodgkin's lymphoma remains poor and the treatment is palliative in the majority of the cases. Thus, the aim of this study was to present the results on the compassionate use of everolimus in a group of patients who were monitored at nine different centers in Brazil.

Classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) is characterized by sparsely distributed Hodgkin and Reed-Sternberg (HRS) cells amid reactive host background, complicating the acquisition of neoplastic DNA without extensive background contamination. We overcame this limitation by using flow-sorted HRS and intratumor T cells and optimized low-input exome sequencing of 10 patient samples to reveal alterations in genes involved in antigen presentation, chromosome integrity, transcriptional regulation, and ubiquitination. β-2-microglobulin (B2M) is the most commonly altered gene in HRS cells, with 7 of 10 cases having inactivating mutations that lead to loss of major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC-I) expression. Enforced wild-type B2M expression in a cHL cell line restored MHC-I expression. In an extended cohort of 145 patients, the absence of B2M protein in the HRS cells was associated with lower stage of disease, younger age at diagnosis, and better overall and progression-free survival. B2M-deficient cases encompassed most of the nodular sclerosis subtype cases and only a minority of mixed cellularity cases, suggesting that B2M deficiency determines the tumor microenvironment and may define a major subset of cHL that has more uniform clinical and morphologic features. In addition, we report previously unknown genetic alterations that may render selected patients sensitive to specific targeted therapies.

Introduction:Adult T cell Leukemia/Lymphoma (ATLL) is a mature T-Cell-neoplasm related to human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) infection that shows variable clinical presentation and adverse prognosis with shorter overall survival (OS) when compared to other peripheral T-cell lymphomas (PTCL). Previous epidemiological studies estimated cumulative incidence in endemic regions around the world. In Brazil, mainly due to its vast dimension, data collection has limitations and is subject to bias. In April 2015 theBrazilianT-cell longitudinal project initiative was launched. One of the primary purposes was the collection of epidemiological and clinical data from the most frequent subtypes of newly diagnosed PTCL. Among them, 41 cases of ATLL were recorded.

To prospectively evaluate demographic, anthropometric and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in pediatric patients with laboratory-confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)

Introduction:An epidemiological database is an important tool to characterize the population disease distribution, long-term effects of the diseases, impact of evolving treatments, to identify adverse events (AE) and their possible mitigation and to improve the healthcare system. Another important reason to create a database is to rapidly identify, recruit and enroll individuals for research activities. Based on these, the Brazilian Multiple Myeloma Study Group (GBRAM) developed an electronic database platform with the intention of prospectively registering the MM cases diagnosed at Brazilian healthcare services. Methods:This is a prospective, multicenter, open, epidemiological study, based on an electronic system register. Patients diagnosed with MM after January 1, 2018 have been included. The eligibility criteria were: intent-to-treat (ITT) MM patients, aged over 18 years and under care in any healthcare system (private, public and academic). All clinical and laboratory data, prognostic profiling, treatment patterns and responses, AE and survival were compiled. The data were analyzed with the NCSS® 2020 software. This project is registered in the Brazilian study platform control (Plataforma Brasil) linked to federal health authorities by the number CAAE-05340918.3.1001.8098. Results:To date, 1,113 patients at 44 reference centers were included. The median age was 64 (25 -96) years and 578 (52%) were male. According to the ECOG performance status: 0 = 185 (16.5%), 1 = 257 (23.2%), 2 = 144 (13%), 3 = 105 (9.5%), 4 = 62 (5.5%) and the not available data (NA) = 359 (32.3%). The ISS 1, 2, and 3 were 219 (19.7%), 286 (25.7%) and 406 (36.5%), respectively, the NA being 202 (18.1%). MM isotypes were 524 (47.1%) IgG, 202 (18.2%) IgA, 192 (17.2%) free-light chain, 4 (0.5%) IgM, 7 (0.8%) biclonal, 9 (0.7%) non-secretor and 175 (15.5%) NA. Regarding the treatment backbone, 427 (38.4%) patients received immunomodulators (IMID- thalidomide), 277 (20.4%), proteasome inhibitors (PI-bortezomib), 84 (7.6%), the combination of PI + IMID, 72 (6.6%), combinations with anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody (Daratumumab) and 253 (27%), other treatments. Based on the ITT analysis of 1003 cases, 636 (63.4%) patients were planned for bone marrow transplantation (BMT) and 367 (36.6%) were ineligible. After a median follow-up of 14.0 months, 150 (23.6%) of the planned patients had undergone the procedure, 284 (44.7%) had not yet been submitted and 202 (31.7%) had NA data. The overall survival (OS) was 80.9% for the total group at 20 months, 73.5% for ineligible and 95.5% for eligible. There was a significant improvement in eligible patients who had performed BMT, as compared to those who had not, HR 0.15 (0.09 - 0.26), p< 0.0001. A total of 142 deaths (12.8%) occurred, 51 (36%) of them being during the first 180 days. Discussion:Due to the lack of a reliable national register and the undoubtable need for a better understanding of MM for the development of public health and patient support measures, GBRAM has developed and built an electronic platform. This epidemiological study prospectively enrolled patients diagnosed since January 2018 and is of a nationwide scope. To date, 1,113 new cases were included. Despite the short follow-up, this analysis has identified differences in survival, comparing ISS stratifications and whether a BMT was performed or not. Conclusion:This project demonstrates the feasibility and importance of electronic platforms in the compilation of MM populational data for a better understanding of the clinical characteristics, treatment patterns and outcomes in the real world, permitting a clearer perception of local issues and thus, addressing possible improvement in public healthcare policy, such as the improvement of BMT access.

Bone marrow biopsy is a diagnostic tool largely used in the evaluation of a broad number of disorders that could affect the hematopoietic system. Differently, bone marrow aspirate clot technique is rarely performed even though it has been described in literature. Here, we highlight the utility of the bone marrow aspirate clot, exemplifying through the discussion of three clinical cases in which this technique was used for diagnosis and follow-up purposes: megaloblastic hemopathy, multiple myeloma, and chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Bone marrow clot analysis increases sensitivity to diagnose hemopathies and offers the possibility of morphological evaluation and anatomopathological study, with the advantage of not needing decalcification processes, hence improving antigenic expression in immunohistochemical and FISH techniques. It is an easy-to-perform technique, offering a quick, reliable, and more comfortable procedure for patients.

No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Purpose-Everolimus is an oral antineoplastic agent that targets the raptor mammalian target of rapamycin (mTORC1). The phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/mTOR signal transduction pathway has been demonstrated to be activated in tumor samples from patients with Hodgkin Lymphoma (HL). The goal of this study was to evaluate the response, time of response, toxicity and overall survival in patients with refractory disease using everolimus out of clinical trial, in a compassionate use.