Despite the availability of new tools for the quantitative assessment of disease activity on PET/CT, the SUVmax rather than MTV and TLG remains the only predictor for EFS in DLBCL patients. The magnitude of glycolytic activity rather than the amount of metabolically active burden holds a predominant value for determining the response to chemotherapy in DLBCL.

No abstract

Bortezomib, used as initial therapy, is able to increase the percentage and the quality of responses in PPCL patients, producing a significant improvement of survival.

A series of new cholesteric liquid‐crystalline polysiloxanes derived from steroid substituents were synthesized. The chemical structures of the monomers or polymers obtained were characterized by FTIR, element analyses, 1H NMR, and 13C NMR. Their mesogenic properties and thermal stability were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis, polarizing optical microscopy, and X‐ray diffraction measurements. Monomers exhibited typical cholesteric focal‐conic or spiral texture. The polymers P1P6 showed cholesteric phase and P7 displayed smectic phase. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2006

No abstract

A prospective, multicenter, randomized trial comparing pamidronate administration (60-90 mg once a month for 1 year) versus simple observation in 177 patients with asymptomatic myeloma was performed to explore whether the administration of this drug reduces the rate of and/or the time to progression to overt, symptomatic disease. No relevant side effects were recorded in pamidronate-treated patients. With a minimum follow-up of 5 years for live patients, there were 56/89 (62.9%) progressions in the pamidronate-treated group and 55/88 (62.5%) within the controls (p = NS). Median time to progression was 46 and 48 months, respectively (p = NS). Overall survival was also similar between the two groups. Skeletal-related events at the time of progression were observed in 40/55 (72.7%) controls, but only in 22/56 (39.2%) pamidronate-treated patients (p = 0.009). In conclusion, the administration of pamidronate in asymptomatic myeloma, while reducing bone involvement at progression, did not decrease the risk of transformation and the time to progression into overt myeloma.

Regulatory T-cells (Tregs) are increased in chronic lymphocytic leukemia(CLL) and correlates with clinical and biological features of active/progressive disease. However, little is known about their ability to predict the time to first treatment (TFT). We evaluated 75 patients with Rai stage 0 CLL, in whom the absolute number of Tregs was determined at diagnosis, and correlated to main clinical and biological features, as well as to the need of receiving any specific therapy during the course of the disease. After a median follow-up of 30 months, 12 patients(16%) required therapy at some time from the diagnosis. Treated patients showed a significant higher number of peripheral white blood cells and B-lymphocytes, platelet count, cases with unmutated immunoglobulin heavy chain status, and high-risk cytogenetic abnormalities,as well as lower hemoglobin values, than patients who did not need therapy. A greater number of circulating Tregs was detected in treated patients (P < 0.001). Multivariate analysis confirmed that the absolute number of Tregs was an independent predictor of TFT in these patients, the best predictive cut-off being 41/mL. These data show that the absolute Tregs cell number is able to identify Rai stage 0 CLL patients at higher risk of requiring therapy.

Introduction: A still not well defined proportion of patients with multiple myeloma (MM) and eligible for autologous stem cell transplantation (AuSCT) fails to mobilize CD34+ peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC) at all or to collect an adequate number for a safe procedure or sufficient for multiple transplants. These so-called "poor-mobilizers" are difficult to be predicted, due to marked difference across previous heterogeneous studies.