Objective To explore if the occupational exposure to low dose thorium could induce adaptive response in peripheral lymphocytes.Methods 40 individuals.who exposed to thorium and rare earth mixed dust(exposure group) or control in Baotou Steel Plant, were selected, and chromosome aberrations were analyzed.Then the peripheral blood samples were irradiated in vitro with 2 Gy60Co γ-rays,and unstable chromosome aberration or DNA stand breakage analysis using single cell gel electrophoresis was performed. Results The dicentrics before 2 Gy exposure in exposure group was higher than that in control(P>0.05). But the dicentries after 2 Gy exposure in exposure group was lower than that in control,but not significantly (P>0.05).The tricentrics in exposure group was significantly lower than that in control(U=3.1622, 0.0ol

Objective: To evaluate the prognostic value of kinetic changes in minimal residual disease (MRD) status, as well as its relationship with risk stratification, therapeutic response and treatment in patients with newly-diagnosed multiple myeloma (MM) . Methods: A total of 135 patients with newly-diagnosed MM were screened, and 105 patients who achieved VGPR or more as the best responses were included into this study. The MRD status was determined by multiparameter flow cytometry (MFC) at multiple intervals after two cycles of treatment until clinical relapse, death, or last follow-up. The statistical methods included Kaplan-Meier analysis, Cox regression, etc. Results: ①In all 135 patients, 57.8% (78/135) patients achieved MRD negativity (MRD^-) after treatment. In 105 patients who achieved VGPR and thus included in this study, the MRD^- rate was 72.4% (76/105) , with a median interval of 3 months from starting treatment to achievement of MRD^- status. ②The 2-year PFS rate of patients with MRD^- status was significantly higher than that of MRD⁺ status (62.2% vs 41.3%, P=0.001) , while MRD persistence (MRD⁺) was an independent factor for poor prognosis (multivariate analysis for PFS: P=0.044, HR=3.039, 95%CI 1.029-8.974) . ③Loss of MRD^- status (i.e., MRD reappearance) showed inferior outcomes compared with MRD sustained negative ones, the PFS was 18 months versus not reach (P<0.001) and the OS was not reach for both (P=0.002) . ④The 2-year PFS and OS rates of patients with duration of MRD^-status≥12 months were significantly higher than those of the control group (PFS: 77.7% vs 36.7%, P<0.001; OS: 96.4% vs 57.9%, P<0.001 respectively) . Duration of MRD^- status was associated with a marked reduction in risk of relapse or death (univariate analysis for PFS: P<0.001, HR=0.865, 95%CI 0.815-0.918; for OS: P=0.001, HR=0.850, 95%CI 0.741-0.915 respectively) . ⑤Moreover, even in patients carrying high-risk cytogenetic abnormalities (CA) or ineligible for ASCT, MRD negativity remained its prognostic value to predict PFS (high-risk CA medianPFS: not reach vs 19 months, P=0.006; ineligible for ASCT medianPFS: not reach vs 25 months, P=0.052 respectively) . ⑥Last, treatment with the bortezomib-based regimens contributed to prolonged MRD^- duration (median MRD^- duratio: 25 months vs 10 months, P=0.034) . Conclusion Our findings supported MRD⁺ status as an independent poor prognostic factor in MM patients, which implicated that duration of MRD^- status also played a significant role in evaluation of prognosis, while loss of MRD^-status might serve as an early biomarker for relapse. Therefore, monitoring of MRD kinetics might more precisely predict prognosis, as well as guide treatment decision, especially for when to start retreatment in relapsed patients.

Objective: To investigate the effect of 1q21 amplification (1q) on the therapeutic response and prognosis of bortezomib(Btz) in the treatment of newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (MM) patients. Methods: A total of 180 newly diagnosed MM were included for analyses of clinical characteristics, cytogenetics, objective response rate (ORR), progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS), retrospectively. Gene expression profiling (GEP) was analyzed using publicly available R2 platform. Results: ① In 180 patients, 1q was found in 51.1% cases. Of them, 174 patients had complete follow-up data, including 88 cases with 1q and 86 without 1q (non-1q). ②Incidence of 1q was positively associated with percentage of IGH rearrangement (72.2%, P=0.017) and 1p deletion (1p) (27.8%, P=0.040). ③ The median PFS was 15.0 and 20.3 months for the 1q group and non-1q group, and the median OS was 29.4 and 44.0 months, respectively. Both PFS and OS of 1q group was significantly shorter than those of the non-1q group (P=0.029 and 0.038, respectively). Multivariate analysis further revealed that 1q was an independent prognostic factor for both PFS (HR=1.910, 95% CI 1.105-3.303, P=0.020) and OS (HR=2.353, 95% CI 1.090-5.078, P=0.029). ④ In 91 evaluable cases with 1q, very good partial remission (VGPR) rate was higher after treatment with Btz than those without Btz (62.1% vs 40.0%, P=0.032). Of note, the patients with 1q who received auto-HSCT after induction with Btz had significantly longer PFS than those without auto-HSCT (19 months vs 13 months, P=0.048). ⑤GEP analysis revealed that 1q21 amplification predominantly up-regulated expression of >50% genes within 1q21 region, and also altered expression of 28% genes in chromosome 1 and 10% genes in whole genome, particularly related to DNA repair and cell cycle. Conclusions 1q is an independent adverse prognostic factor in patients with newly diagnosed MM. It is often associated with 1p deletion and IGH rearrangement. Patients with 1q respond well to Btz-based regimen, but they fail to gain long-term benefit from this treatment itself. However, auto-HSCT following Btz induction might improve survival of patients with 1q, suggesting a potential strategy to treat this high-risk subset of MM. GEP analysis warrants further attention in understanding the mechanisms underlying the high-risk of 1q.

Objective: To investigate the clinical features, diagnosis, occurrence sequence and clonal origin of chronic lymphocytic leukemia complicated with multiple myeloma. Methods: The diagnosis and treatment of one patient with multiple myeloma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia who was admitted to the First Hospital of Jilin University in May 2018 was retrospectively analyzed, and the related literatures were reviewed. Results: This patient began with lumbosacral pain, and he was diagnosed as chronic lymphocytic leukemia complicated with multiple myeloma after bone marrow aspiration, flow cytometry, and blood and urine immunofixation electrophoresis. It is recommended that Rd (lenalidomide + dexamethasone) or MPV (melphalan + prednisone + bortezomib) regimen, but the patient did not receive chemotherapy and died of infectious diarrhea 1 month later. Conclusions The occurrence of multiple myeloma and chronic lymphoblastic leukemia may originate from the same clone or different new clone. It is very rare that multiple myeloma and chronic lymphoblastic leukemia can co-occur. Therapeutic options tend to be more aggressive multiple myeloma-based regimen.