METHODS: We randomised 429 children with newly diagnosed ALL to 15-minute vs 3-hour infusion for the first dose of VCR to study if prolonging the first dose of VCR infusion improved response. In a subgroup of 115 B-ALL and 20 T-ALL patients, we performed VCR plasma (n = 135 patients) and intracellular (n = 66 patients) pharmacokinetic studies. The correlations between pharmacokinetic parameters and intracellular VCR levels with early treatment response, final outcome and ABCB1 genotypes were analysed.
RESULTS: There was no significant difference between 15-minute and 3-hour infusion schedules in median Day 8 peripheral or bone marrow blast response. Plasma VCR pharmacokinetic parameters did not predict outcome. However, in B-ALL, Day 33 minimal residual disease (MRD) negative patients and patients in continuous complete remission had significantly higher median intracellular VCR24h levels (P = .03 and P = .04, respectively). The median VCR24h intracellular levels were similar among the common genetic subtypes of ALL (P = .4). Patients homozygous for wild-type ABCB1 2677GG had significantly higher median intracellular VCR24h (P = .04) than 2677TT.
CONCLUSION: We showed that in childhood B-ALL, the intracellular VCR24h levels in lymphoblasts affected treatment outcomes. The intracellular VCR24h level was independent of leukaemia subtype but dependent on host ABCB1 G2677T genotype.
RESULTS: 50% minimum inhibitory concentration with silver-conjugated Hesperidin was achieved with 0.5 μg/ml of Hesperidin conjugated with silver nanoparticles at 1 h. Differential genetic analysis revealed the expression of 122 genes (≥ 2-log FC, P
MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study comprised a retrospective analysis of patients with DLBCL treated at a single centre. The outcome was compared with patients who were treated with R-CHOP like and CHOP like chemotherapy. Patients who were treated with lower dose of rituximab was subanalysed for outcome.
RESULTS: A total of 86 patients who had CHOP-like chemotherapy were included. Only 39 (45%) patients had rituximab and only 12 (29%) patients had the recommended dose. The overall response (OR) and complete response (CR) rates were 88% and 81% respectively. There was no significant difference in OR and CR in patients who had rituximab and those without rituxmab. Those with International Prognostic Index (IPI) score of ≤ 2 had significant higher CR rate, progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (p<0.001).
CONCLUSIONS: The lack of significant improvement in CR and DFS in our patients may be due to an inadequate dose of rituximab.
CONCLUSION: Optic nerve infiltration in systemic metastatic retinal lymphoma may have initial occult signs but with profound visual loss. Ocular infections like CMV retinitis and tuberculosis may mask and delay the diagnosis in immunocompromised patients.
METHODS: 79 patients with DLBCL (nodal, 59% and extranodal, 41%) treated with rituximab combined with cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine and prednisone (R-CHOP) therapy were selected. Expression levels of BCR and linked signalling pathway molecules were inter-related with Lymph2Cx-based cell of origin (COO) types and overall survival (OS).
RESULTS: Activated B-cell (ABC) type DLBCL constituted 49% (39/79) compared with germinal centre B-cell (GCB) type DLBCL (29/79; 37%) and revealed poor prognosis (p=0.013). In ABC-DLBCL, high BTK expression exerted poor response to R-CHOP, while OS in ABC-DLBCL with low BTK expression was similar to GCB-DLBCL subtype (p=0.004). High LYN expression coupled with a poor OS for ABC-DLBCL as well as GCB-DLBCL subtypes (p=0.001). Furthermore, high coexpression of BTK/LYN (BTKhigh/LYNhigh) showed poor OS (p=0.019), which linked with upregulation of several genes associated with BCR repertoire and nuclear factor-kappa B pathway (p<0.01). In multivariate analysis, high BTK and LYN expression retained prognostic significance against established clinical predictive factors such as age, International Prognostic Index and COO (p<0.05).
CONCLUSIONS: Our data provide a clear association between high BCR activity in DLBCL and response to therapy in a distinct population. Molecular data provided here will pave the pathway for the provision of promising novel-targeted therapies to patients with DLBCL in Southeast Asia.