The multicenter retrospective study conducted in 38 centers from 20 countries including 172 adult patients with CNS MM aimed to describe the clinical and pathological characteristics and outcomes of patients with multiple myeloma (MM) involving the central nervous system (CNS). Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify prognostic factors for survival. The median time from MM diagnosis to CNS MM diagnosis was 3 years. Thirty-eight patients (22%) were diagnosed with CNS involvement at the time of initial MM diagnosis and 134 (78%) at relapse/progression. Upon diagnosis of CNS MM, 97% patients received initial therapy for CNS disease, of which 76% received systemic therapy, 36% radiotherapy and 32% intrathecal therapy. After a median follow-up of 3.5 years, the median overall survival (OS) from the onset of CNS involvement for the entire group was 7 months. Untreated and treated patients had median OS of 2 and 8 months, respectively (p<0.001). At least one previous line of therapy for MM before the diagnosis of CNS disease and >1 cytogenetic abnormality detected by FISH were independently associated with worse OS. The median OS for patients with 0, 1 and 2 of these risk factors were 25 months, 5.5 months and 2 months, respectively (p<0.001). Neurological manifestations, not considered chemotherapy-related, observed at any time after initial diagnosis of MM should raise a suspicion of CNS involvement. Although prognosis is generally poor, the survival of previously untreated patients and patients with favorable cytogenetic profile might be prolonged due to systemic treatment and/or radiotherapy.

Although gastrointestinal (GI) tract is the most common extranodal site involved in non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), primary gastrointestinal NHL (gNHL) is a rare problem which concerns about 10-15% of NHL patients and 30-40% of extranodal NHL patients. Lymphoid neoplasms may consist of mature B, T and (less commonly) extranodal NK/T cells. The most common diagnoses are diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and marginal zone lymphoma (MALT), but many other lymphomas may be found in the GI tract. There are a few well-known risk factors of gNHL and some of them affect treatment. The most frequent sites of occurrence are the stomach followed by small intestine and ileocecal region. In the last 2 decades, there has been a rapid development in the diagnosis, staging and management of GI lymphoma, but still some of such lymphomas, especially T-cell ones, are a therapeutic challenge. In this review, we present clinical and pathological features of GI lymphomas. We also describe the current status in diagnosis and treatment.

Skin infiltration in multiple myeloma (skin MM) is a rare clinical problem. Only a few cases of skin involvement have been reported, primarily in single case reports. We analyzed and present the clinical outcomes, immunohistochemistry and cytogenetic features, and relevant laboratory data on 53 biopsy-proven skin MM cases. The median time from MM diagnosis to skin involvement was 2 years. There appears to be an overrepresentation of immunoglobulin class A (IgA) and light chain disease in skin MM. We found no correlation between CD56 negative MM and skin infiltration. We found that skin MM patients presented in all MM stages (i.e. ISS stages I to III), and there was no preferential cytogenetic abnormality. Patients with skin MM carry a very poor prognosis with a median overall survival (OS) of 8.5 months as time from skin involvement. Moreover, patients with IgA disease and plasmablastic morphology appear to have a worse OS.

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