No abstract

No abstract

Background A study at the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) Medical Center demonstrated that quality of life in cutaneous lupus erythematosus (CLE) patients is negatively impacted. Whether CLE patients in other geographic locations have similar quality of life is unknown. Objective We sought to compare quality of life indicators between CLE patients at the University of Texas Southwestern (UTSW) Medical Center at Dallas and UPenn. Methods 248 CLE patients at UTSW (N=91) and UPenn (N=157) completed the Skindex-29+3 and Short Form-36 (SF-36) surveys related to quality of life. Additional information including demographics, presence of SLE, and disease severity were collected from UTSW CLE patients. Results Most Skindex-29+3 and SF-36 sub-domain scores between UTSW and UPenn CLE patients were similar. However, UTSW CLE patients were significantly more affected in the functioning and lupus-specific Skindex-29+3 domains, and physical functioning, role-physical, and general health SF-36 subscales than UPenn CLE patients (p<0.05). Factors related to poor quality of life in UTSW CLE patients include gender, income, education, presence of SLE, and skin disease activity. Conclusions Most quality of life indicators were similar between the two CLE populations. Differences in psychosocial behavior, and a larger proportion of SLE patients and females in the UTSW group likely attributed to differences in a minority of Skindex-29+3 and SF-36 sub-domains. Capturing data from CLE populations in different locations provides a more thorough picture of the quality of life that CLE patients experience on a daily basis with special attention to quality of life issues in select CLE patients.

No abstract

Outcomes for adults with relapsed/refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) are poor with chemotherapy, particularly in later salvage. The TOWER study examined survival, remission, bridge to allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), and safety with blinatumomab versus chemotherapy. This report examined outcomes separately for study treatment as first or later salvage. Adults with Philadelphia chromosome-negative B-cell precursor ALL relapsed/refractory to chemotherapy were randomly assigned 2:1 to receive blinatumomab by continuous infusion for 4 weeks in 6-week cycles, or standard salvage chemotherapy. Overall survival for blinatumomab versus chemotherapy was higher both in first salvage and in later salvage. Safety was similar between patients in first salvage and those in later salvage. Blinatumomab as later salvage was associated with higher complete remission rates and served as a bridge to allogeneic HSCT, supporting the use of blinatumomab in both settings. This study is registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT02013167.