Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia (WM) is a malignant B-cell lymphoproliferative disorder, which still remains incurable. Reports on the latest research progress of WM were presented in the 58th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, covering the theoretical and clinical researches of this disease. In basic research, mechanism of ibrutinib resistance has been further explored. The application of modern technologies, such as next-generation sequencing, has promoted the pathogenesis and prognosis of WM. In clinical research, retrospective analyses of traditional treatment provide new theoretical foundation in the choice of regimen, while clinical trials on new drugs including BGB-3111 and oprozomib may improve the therapy. The research advances in WM will be summarized in this paper.

Objective To apply real-time transperineal ultrasound ( TPUS) to monitor the intra-fractional prostate motion,collect and analyze the data of the prostate motion,aiming to provide evidence for the optimization of the target area and plan of radiotherapy for prostate cancer. Methods TPUS is a non-invasive monitoring technique that utilizes an automatic scanning ultrasound probe to dynamically monitor and correct the motion of organs during radiotherapy. In this study, TPUS was utilized to collect 1588 intra-fractional data of 70 patients with prostate cancer. Prior to each cycle of radiotherapy,CBCT was adopted to correct the errors between intra-factional data by using VMAT. During radiotherapy, real-time ( once per second) ultrasound images were acquired to monitor the 3D motion of the prostate on the x (left+,right-),y (cranial+, caudal-), and z ( abdominal+, dorsal-) axes, emphasizing the analysis of 4D motion of the prostate. Results All patients successfully completed the treatment and data collection. The median time of effective monitoring per faction was 179 seconds (132-286 seconds). During 95% of the monitoring time,the distance of prostate motion was 2. 22 mm in the left direction,2. 17 mm in the right,2. 08 mm in the cranial, 1. 98 mm in the caudal,2. 44 mm in the abdominal and 2. 97 mm in the dorsal direction,respectively. In the x,y and z axes,the percentage of time in which the distance of prostate motion less than 1 mm among the total time was 83. 07%,85. 46% and 78. 27%,respectively,whereas 97. 70%,97. 87% and 96. 45% for＜3 mm, respectively. Conclusions TPUS is a non-invasive real-time monitoring technique,which can detect the 4D motion of the prostate during radiotherapy. By using VMAT,the range of prostate motion is relatively small, and the motion range is less than 3 mm in each direction within 95% of the time.

【Objective】 To investigate and analyze the serological and molecular biological characteristics of B(A) subgroup in a tertiary hospital in Jiaozhou, Qingdao. 【Methods】 From November 2019 to February 2023, the samples of 12 patients were suspected to be AB subgroup by microcolumn glass bead method and saline test tube method. The exons 6 and 7 of ABO gene were further amplified, sequenced and analyzed to determine the ABO allele type. 【Results】 A total of 9 cases of B(A) subgroup were detected in 26 065 patients in Jiaozhou, with a detection rate of 0.345 ‰ ( 9/26 065 ). Among the 9 cases of B(A) subgroup, 8 cases of serological reaction showed AweakB, and the gene detection was heterozygous for BA.04 gene and O gene.One case of serological reaction showed ABweak, and the gene detection was heterozygous for BA.04 gene and A gene. 【Conclusion】 Blood group serological combined with gene detection can accurately identify ABO blood group. B(A) subgroup alleles can exist in individuals with serological reaction of ABweak.

Objective:To investigate the clinical, genetic, and clonality related aspects of individuals with Richter transformation (RT) .Methods:From January 2019 to December 2021, 18 RT patients with diagnoses at the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University (Pukou CLL center) were retrospectively examined. The immunoglobin heavy variable (IGHV) gene usage and IGHV-D-J rearrangement pattern of diagnosed CLL/SLL and transformed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) were compared to determine the clonality relatedness. To investigate the risk factors of RT, Clinical and laboratory data from patients with newly diagnosed CLL/SLL and transformed DLBCL were gathered.Results:The median age of RT was 56.5 (41-75) years old. 17 patients transformed to DLBCL and 1 transformed to Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) . Of 17 individuals who had DLBCL transformation, 15 had CLL/SLL-related clonality and 2 had unrelated clonality. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) analysis of 11 paired initially diagnosed treatment-naive CLL/SLL and RT DLBCL found that EGR2、TP53 and NOTCH1 were among the most frequently mutated genes both in treatment-naive CLL/SLL and in RT DLBCL. In several cases, specific mutations were gained or lost throughout RT, indicating clonal evolution. Among 10 patients before exposure to BTK inhibitors before RT, four patients acquired BTK mutation. The aforementioned mutations should be considered high-risk variables for transformation; in addition, TP53 and EGR2 mutations could be linked to a poor prognosis following RT in patients receiving a cocktail of new medicines.Conclusion:Most RT DLBCL patients in our center are clonality related (15/17, 88.2% ) and we recommend all qualified centers to evaluate clonality relatedness of RT DLBCL patients. There was some variability in the mutational landscape between DLBCL that had undergone a transformation and initially diagnosed, treatment-naive CLL/SLL. The underlying molecular mechanism of RT needs more research.

Objective:To investigate the vaccination status, characteristics and prognosis of patients suffering from a combination of COVID-19 and chronic lymphocytic anemia (CLL) in China.Methods:Clinical data of 328 patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) who were first diagnosed with COVID-19 and treated in the Department of Hematology of Jiangsu Provincial People’s Hospital between November 2022 and February 2023 were retrospectively analyzed. Univariate and multivariate analysis of data of patients with severe/critical COVID-19 were conducted by applying the binary logistic regression model.Results:The median age of the CLL patients was 60 (24-87) years. 23.5% (77/328) of these patients suffered from severe/critical COVID-19 infection. Univariate analysis of the data demonstrated that a combination of factors including age >67 years ( OR=2.15, 95% CI 1.24- 3.73, P=0.006), diabetes ( OR=2.09, 95% CI 1.05-4.20, P=0.037), chronic hepatitis B ( OR=2.91, 95% CI 1.30-6.51, P=0.010), CLL progressive ( OR=3.79, 95% CI 1.57-9.15, P=0.003) and CD20 antibody-based treatments within three months prior to the COVID-19 infection ( OR=2.79, 95% CI 1.35-5.77, P=0.006) were the risk factors for severe/critical COVID-19. According to the multivariate analysis, CLL progressive ( OR=2.98, 95% CI 1.10-8.10, P=0.033) was an independent risk factor for severe/critical COVID-19 and administration of the BTK (Bruton tyrosine kinase) inhibitor monotherapy might exert a protective effect and influence a positive outcome of the COVID-19 infection ( OR=0.38, 95% CI 0.16-0.90, P=0.028). Among the 242 patients who were followed up until October 2023, 9.1% (22/242) had multiple subsequent COVID-19 infections (≥3), and 2.1% (5/242) had persistent COVID-19 infections (patients with persistent positive test for the SARS-CoV-2 antigen testing until missing follow-up for any reason). The peak value of the anti-SARS-CoV-2-IgG titres was observed between three and four months post symptom onset (median: 3.511 S/CO vs 1.047 S/CO, P<0.05). The levels of immunoglobulin A gradually decreased following infection with COVID-19, and its trough levels were attained between two to four weeks post infection (median: 0.30 g/L vs 0.74 g/L, P<0.05). According to this study the mortality of patients suffering from a combination of COVID-19 infection and CLL was 2.7% (9/328), and the main reason for their death was respiratory failure and heart failure. Conclusions:A low rate of COVID-19 vaccination and a high rate of severe/critical COVID-19 infection was observed in the CLL patients. CLL progressive was associated with severe/critical COVID-19. Anti-CD20-based treatments received within the past three months might be a risk factor for exacerbation of COVID-19 infection, whereas a monotherapy with BTK inhibitors exert a protective effect and improve outcome of COVID-19 infection.