Thirty refractory relapsed acute myeloid leukemia (R/R AML) patients who received salvage allo-HSCT with MeCBA conditioning regimen from January 2018 to June 2022 at Henan Cancer Hospital were included, and their clinical data were reviewed. There were 16 males and 14 females among the 30 patients with a median age of 37 (16-53) years. There were 3 sibling allograft donor transplants, 1 unrelated donor transplant, and 26 haplotype transplants. The median course of pre-transplant chemotherapy was 4 (3-22). The time of neutrophil engraftment was 14 (9-22) days and 18 (10-40) days for platelet. The 30-day cumulative incidence of neutrophil engraftment was 100% and the 100-day cumulative incidence of platelet engraftment was 96.7% (95% CI 85.4% -97.5% ). 22 (73.3% ) patients experienced grade 1-2 gastrointestinal reactions, and there was no grade 3-4 organ toxicity. With a median follow-up of 37.1 months, the overall survival (OS) rate, event-free survival (EFS) rate, cumulative recurrence rate (CIR), and non-recurrence mortality (NRM) rate at 3 years after transplantation were 70.0% (95% CI 50.3% -83.1% ), 65.3% (95% CI 44.8% -79.8% ), 21.2% (95% CI 9.2% -44.4% ) and 16.7% (95% CI 7.3% -35.5% ), respectively.

Objective:To compare and analyze the clinical characteristics of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) related to the treatment of hematological tumors and solid tumors.Methods:The laboratory and clinical data of 41 patients with treatment-related AML (t-AML) in the Department of Hematology, Henan Cancer Hospital from January 2014 to December 2021 were retrospectively analyzed, and they were divided into hematological tumor group and solid tumor group. Survival analysis was performed using the Kaplan-Meier method and Log rank test.Results:The median interval from the first tumor diagnosis to t-AML in 41 patients was 21.0 (16.5-46.0) months; 24 (58.5%) had abnormal expression of lymphoid antigen, 28 (68.3%) had abnormal karyotype, 18 cases (43.9%) were positive for fusion gene, and 28 cases (68.3%) were positive for gene mutation; the median recurrence-free survival (RFS) was 11.0 months, and the median overall survival (OS) was 11.5 months. The proportion of acute promyelocytic leukemia ([APL], 0.0, 0/13), complete response ([CR],18.2%, 2/11), median OS (4.5 months) and median RFS (2.5 months) of t-AML patients in the hematological tumor group were significantly lower than those in the solid tumor group (35.7%, 10/28; 68.0%, 17/25; not reach; not reach), but the proportion of M4 /M5 (93.2%,12/13) was significantly higher than that in the solid tumor group (53.6%,15/18; all P values<0.05). Through subgroup analysis, the proportion of patients with positive PML-RARa and good prognosis karyotypes in the solid tumor group (35.7%, 10/28; 46.4%, 13/28) was significantly higher than that in the hematological tumor group (0.0, 0/13; 0.0, 0/13; P<0.05), while the proportion of patients with intermediate karyotypes (42.9%, 12/28) was significantly lower than that in the hematological tumor group (84.6%, 11/13; P<0.05), the difference was statistically significant. The CR rate (90.0%, 9/10), median OS (not reach) and median RFS (not reach) in the t-APL group were higher than those in the t-AML (without t-APL) group (38.5%, 10/26; 6 months; 8 months; P<0.05). After excluding the effect of t-APL patients, there was no significant difference in the CR rate, median OS and median RFS between the solid tumor group (8; 9 months; not reach) and the hematological tumor group (2; 4 months; 2 months; P>0.05). Univariate analysis showed that the primary tumor belongs to hematological tumor was a common risk factor for OS and RFS in t-AML patients ( P<0.10). Conclusions:Compared with patients with t-AML secondary to solid tumors, patients with t-AML secondary to hematological tumors have poorer treatment effects and poorer prognosis. After excluding the effect of t-APL patients, there are no significant differences in the treatment efficacy and prognosis between the two types of t-AML patients.

Objective:To investigate the expression of programmed death 1 (PD-1)/programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) pathway in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and its relationship with clinical features and prognosis, and to examine its effect on PD-1-positive natural killer (NK) cells against AML cells in vitro.Methods:The bone marrow samples of 65 AML patients and the peripheral blood of 32 AML patients diagnosed in Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Zhengzhou University from July 2019 to December 2020 were prospectively collected, and the peripheral blood of 24 healthy people was taken as healthy control. The expression level of PD-L1 in bone marrow tumor cells and expression level of PD-1 in peripheral blood NK cells were detected by flow cytometry. The correlations of PD-1 expression in bone marrow tumor cells and PD-1 expression in NK cells with the clinicopathological features, curative effect and prognosis of patients were analyzed. Flow cytometry was used to detect the expression level of PD-L1 in AML cell line THP-1 (target cells) and the expression level of PD-L1 in NK cell line NKL (effector cells). THP-1 cells treated with and without 25 μmol/L of PD-L1 inhibitor fraxinellone were used as experimental group and control group, and co-cultured with NKL cells at different effector-to-target ratios. The apoptosis of THP-1 cells and the expression of NKG2D in NKL cells were detected by flow cytometry, the cell proliferation status was detected by CCK-8 and the cell proliferation inhibition rate was calculated; the levels of interferon-γ (IFN-γ) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in the supernatant of co-culture system were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).Results:The proportion of AML patients with PD-L1-positive expression in bone marrow tumor cells was higher than that in the healthy control group [38.5% (25/65) vs. 8.3% (2/24), P = 0.029]. The proportion of AML patients with PD-1-positive expression in peripheral blood NK cells was higher than that in the healthy control group [40.6% (13/32) vs. 12.5% (3/24), P = 0.035]. There were no statistical differences in sex, age, hemogram, proportion of primordial cells, risk stratification, chromosomal karyotype, gene mutation (except NPM1 gene), fusion gene and French-American-British cooperative group (FAB) typing between patients with PD-L1 positive and negative in bone marrow tumor cells and between patients with PD-1 positive and negative in peripheral blood NK cells (all P > 0.05). In relapsed/refractory patients, the proportion of patients with PD-L1-positive expression in bone marrow tumor cells was higher than that in newly treated patients [58.8% (10/17) vs. 31.2% (15/48), P = 0.045]. There was no significant difference in the proportion of patients with PD-1-positive expression in peripheral blood NK cells between relapsed/refractory patients and newly treated patients [(38.5% (5/13) vs. 42.1% (8/19), P = 0.837]. There was no statistical difference in complete remission (CR) rate between PD-L1 positive and negative patients [69.6% (16/23) vs. 74.3% (26/35), P > 0.05]. There was no statistical difference in CR rate between PD-1 positive and negative patients [66.7% (8/12) vs. 70.6% (12/17), P > 0.05]. There was no statistical difference in recurrence rate after CR between PD-L1 positive and negative patients [12.5% (2/16) vs. 19.2% (5/26), P > 0.05]. There was no statistical difference in recurrence rate after CR between PD-1 positive and negative patients [25.0% (2/8) vs. 16.7% (2/12), P > 0.05]. Flow cytometry showed that the positive rate of PD-1 in NKL cells was (67±6)% and the positive rate of PD-L1 in THP-1 cells was (85±5)%. After co-culture with NKL cells, the apoptotic rate and proliferation inhibition rate of THP-1 cells were higher in the experimental group compared with the control group, the expression of NKG2D on the surface of NKL cells was elevated, and the levels of IFN-γ and TNF-α in the co-culture supernatant were increased. Conclusions:In AML patients, the expression of PD-L1 in bone marrow tumor cells is high, and the expression of PD-1 in peripheral blood NK cells is also high. The expression of PD-L1 in bone marrow tumor cells of relapsed/refractory AML patients is higher than that of newly treated patients. Inhibition of PD-L1 expression in THP-1 cells can enhance the tumor killing activity of NKL cells in vitro. The mechanism may be that inhibition of PD-L1 expression in THP-1 cells up-regulates the expression of NKL cell activated receptor NKG2D and promotes the secretion of IFN- γ and TNF- α.

Objective:To evaluate the effect of short-term topical administration of atropine eye drops with various concentrations and frequencies on eye safety in children.Methods:A double-blind randomized controlled trial was conducted.Sevevty-two children with ametropia or pre-myopia (72 eyes) were enrolled in Tianjin Medical University Eye Hospital from December 2020 to January 2022.The subjects were randomly divided into 0.01% atropine group, 0.02% atropine group and 0.04% atropine group according to a random number table, with 24 cases (24 eyes) in each group.Automatic refraction with an automatic computer optometry device, subjective refraction with a phoropter, intraocular pressure with a non-contact tonometer, axial length by optical biometrics, the amplitude of accommodation (AMP) by the push-up method, pupil diameter with pupilometer, near visual acuity at 33 cm with a standard logarithmic visual acuity chart, tear evaluation with Keratograph 5M and Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) questionnaire survey were performed among all subjects.One drop of 0.01%, 0.02%, and 0.04% atropine was administrated to the study eye according to grouping, and the pupil diameter was measured every 10 minutes until the pupil did not enlarge three times, then the data after a single treatment of the three groups were recorded.After one-week application of the corresponding concentration of atropine eye drops once at night, the data after one-week treatment were recorded.For the next week, the application frequency of 0.01% and 0.02% atropine groups changed to once daily in the morning and evening, and 0.04% atropine group maintained once at night, then the data after two-week treatment were recorded.Data of the right eyes were analyzed.The changes in pupil diameter, AMP and other eye parameters before and after atropine eye drops of the three groups were compared.This study adhered to the Declaration of Helsinki and the study protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of Tianjin Medical University Eye Hospital (No.2020KY[L]-51). All subjects and their guardians were fully informed of the method and purpose of this study before entering the cohort.Written informed consent was obtained from guardians.Results:Pupil diameters of 0.01%, 0.02% and 0.04% atropine groups were (5.59±0.48), (5.35±0.76) and (5.65±0.43)mm before treatment respectively, (7.00±0.68), (7.17±0.58) and (8.40±1.71)mm after a single treatment, (6.67±0.62), (6.56±0.65) and (7.60±0.69)mm after one-week treatment, (6.96±0.49), (7.04±0.53) and (7.60±0.36)mm after two-week treatment.There were significant differences in pupil diameter at different time points after treatment among the three groups ( Fgroup=9.430, P<0.001; Ftime=156.620, P<0.001). The AMP of 0.01%, 0.02% and 0.04% atropine groups were (12.94±3.02), (13.25±2.81) and (13.42±2.60)D before treatment respectively, (11.62±2.61), (11.53±2.06) and (9.64±1.93)D after a single treatment, (11.14±2.61), (11.33±2.33) and (8.30±1.18)D after one-week treatment, (9.99±1.81), (8.72±1.25) and (8.76±2.12)D after two-week treatment.There was no significant difference in the AMP among the three groups ( Fgroup=2.800, P=0.063). In the three groups, the AMP at different time points after treatment were significantly lower than that before treatment ( Ftime=61.400, P<0.001). There was no difference in spherical equivalent refraction, intraocular pressure, near visual acuity, axial length, first none-invasive tear break-up time, average none-invasive tear break-up time, tear meniscus height and OSDI score among the three groups ( Fgroup=0.030, 0.630, 1.420, 0.580, 0.140, 0.120, 0.340, 0.142; all at P>0.05). There were significant differences in spherical equivalent refraction, intraocular pressure, first none-invasive tear break-up time, average none-invasive tear break-up time, tear meniscus height and OSDI score at different time points between before and after medication among the three groups ( Ftime=12.560, 4.730, 4.720, 5.220, 3.720; all at P<0.05). Conclusions:Varying pupil dilation and AMP reduction occur after the use of different concentrations of atropine and are more severe at higher concentrations.Increased administration frequency of atropine is associated with more pupil dilation and AMP reduction, but there is no intolerable adverse effect.

Objective:To investigate the effect of interferon, interleukin 2 (IL-2) combined with lenalidomide in the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with minimal residual disease (MRD)-positive.Methods:The clinical data of 1 elderly AML patient with persistent MRD positive treated with interferon, IL-2 combined with lenalidomide in the Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Zhengzhou University in December 2019 were retrospectively analyzed, and the relevant literature was reviewed.Results:The 72-year-old male patient was diagnosed as AML-M 2b with c-kit mutation, the low-risk group according to laboratory related examinations, flow cytometry, genetic testing. The patient did not achieve remission after 1 cycle of standard VA (venetoclax + azacitidine) regimen, and achieved complete remission (CR) after another 1 cycle of IA (idarubicin + cytarabine) induction regimen, followed by consolidation therapy with medium dosage cytarabine and D-CAG (decitabine + cytarabine + aclarubicin + granulocyte colony-stimulating factor) regimen, during which the AML1-ETO fusion gene progressively increased. After programmed death receptor 1 (PD-1) inhibitor-based combination therapy, the AML1-ETO fusion gene remained negative for more than 1 month, and then increased again; subsequently, the patient was treated with the ITI (interferon, thalidomide, and interleukin-2) regimen, and the AML1-ETO fusion gene remained negative for more than 7 months; thalidomide was changed to lenalidomide after the increase again, and AML1-ETO fusion gene remained negative again for 2 years until May 2023. Conclusions:Interferon, IL-2 combined with lenalidomide have a significant therapeutic efficacy in reversing MRD positive and have mild adverse reactions, which can be used as a new option for refractory AML.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the clinical characteristics and prognostic values of TP53 gene variant in patients with acute leukemia(AL). METHODS: The clinical data of 44 newly diagnosed AL patients with TP53 variant detected by next generation sequencing (NGS) were analyzed retrospectively. Targeted sequencing technique containing 108 leukemia-related genes was used for variant analysis, and conventional R-banding technique was used for karyotype analysis. The clinical features, cytogenetics, gene variant, curative effect and survival of AL patients with TP53 gene variant were analyzed. RESULTS: The median age of AML patients with TP53 gene variant (46 years) was higher than that of ALL patients (17.5 years), and the median number of bone marrow blasts (40.5%) was lower than the latter (89.2%), the differences were statistically significant (P< 0.01). A total of 28 cases of abnormal karyotype were detected, of which 25 cases were complex karyotype, 16 cases were monomeric karyotype, 14 cases had -17/17p-. The detection rates of TP53 in complex karyotype, monomeric karyotype and -17/17p- were 59.5%, 38.1% and 33.3%, respectively. Subgroup analysis showed that the detection rate of TP53 gene abnormalities in AML and ALL complex karyotypes was 73.1% and 40% respectively, the difference was statistically significant. A total of 41 TP53 gene variant types were found, and the median variant frequency was 43.58%. 75.6% variant was located in the DNA binding domain. The concomitant variant genes were mainly TET2 and IKZF1. Among 18 AML and 17 ALL patients who could be evaluated the curative effect, the CR rate of one course of treatment was 22.2% and 94.12% respectively, and the difference was statistically significant. The median RFS of 4 cases of AML with CR and 16 cases of ALL with CR were 174 and 246 days respectively, the difference was statistically insignificant. The median OS of AML and ALL was 20 and 375 days respectively, the difference was statistically significant. CONCLUSION The TP53 gene variant is associated with the complex karyotype of AML, but has no significant effect on ALL. The variant site of TP53 gene was mainly distributed in the DNA binding domain. The remission rate of AML with TP53 gene variant was lower than that of ALL. The prognosis of AL patients with TP53 gene variant is poor, so allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation should be performed as soon as possible to prolong the survival of the patients.
Acute Disease ; Humans ; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute/genetics* ; Middle Aged ; Mutation ; Retrospective Studies ; Tumor Suppressor Protein p53/genetics*

Acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) is a highly heterogeneous malignant hematologic disease, and it is mainly treated with traditional chemotherapy, but the efficacy is limited and the patients with worse performance status and comorbidities can not be treated with chemotherapy. Gene changes play an important role in the diagnosis and prognosis of AML, and these gene changes also provide targets for molecular targeted therapy. Meanwhlie, immunotherapy has achieved certain curative effects in AML and has a promising prospect. In this review, targeted therapy and immunotherapy of AML reported in 61st American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting are summarized.

Objective: To explore the clinical efficacy and prognostic factors of first-generation and second-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) based regimen in the treatment of patients with BCR-ABL positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) . Methods: Retrospectively analyze the clinical characteristics and prognostic factors of 89 patients with BCR-ABL positive ALL from April 2012 to June 2018 in our hospital, the clinical efficacy of first-generation and second-generation TKI was compared. Results: 60 patients were classified into the first-generation TKI (imatinib) group, and 29 patients were in the second-generation TKI (dasatinib) group. There were no significant differences in gender, age, WBC, hemoglobin concentration, PLT, chromosomal karyotype, the types of fusion genes, allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) and TKI initiation time between the two groups. The first-generation and second-generation TKI groups, for which the complete remission (CR) rate at the fourth week of induction therapy was 83.3% and 89.7% (P=0.637) , respectively, and the complete molecular remission (CMR) was 48.3%and 58.6% (P=0.363) , respectively, the difference was not statistically significant. The 2-year overall survival (OS) rate of first-generation and second-generation TKI group was 34.9% and 64.0% (χ²=4.743, P=0.029) , the 2-year relapse free survival (RFS) rate was 17.2% and 55.0% (χ²=8.801, P=0.003) , respectively. Multivariate analysis showed that complete molecular remission (HR=0.281, 95%CI 0.151-0.523, P<0.001) was independent favorable prognostic factor for overall survival (OS) , complete molecular remission (HR=0.209, 95%CI 0.112-0.390, P<0.001) and second-generation TKI (HR=0.318, 95%CI 0.158-0.641, P=0.001) were independent favorable prognostic factors for RFS. Conclusion For TKI-based regimen of BCR-ABL positive ALL, second-generation TKI is superior to first-generation TKI in OS and RFS time.

Acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) is a highly heterogeneous malignant hematologic disease, and its clinical treatment mainly includes traditional chemotherapy, but the efficacy is limited and the patients with worse performance status and comorbidities can not be treated with chemotherapy. In recent years, immunotherapy has achieved certain curative effects in AML which shows a promising prospect. This review introduces immunotherapy of AML reported in 60th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting.

Objective: To explore the effect of combination regimen of interferon alpha-1b, interleukin-2 and thalidomide (ITI regimen) on minimal residual disease (MRD) in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who were in hematologic remission but MRD-positive. Methods: Eighteen patients (17 from Tumor Hospital of Zhengzhou University and 1 from the First People's Hospital of Pingdingshan City) with AML admitted from July 2016 to June 2018, who were in hematologic remission but MRD-positive were treated with different doses of ITI regimen, and the MRD levels were monitored. Results: Among 18 patients who received a conventional dose of ITI regimen for 1 to 2 months, 7 patients had undetectable MRD, 3 had significant decrease in MRD levels, 3 had elevated MRD level and had hematologic recurrence. Three patients with elevated MRD level received a higher dose of ITI regimen, 2 of them turned to MRD negative and the other 1 patient had decreased MRD level. The total response rate was 72.2%, and the response rate in patients with MRD > 1.0% was 57.1% (4/7) , and that of patients with MRD < 1.0% was 81.8% (9/11) , respectively. Conclusion The ITI regimen can reduce the MRD level of patient with AML who are in hematologic remission but MRD-positive. The therapeutic effect could be improved by a higher dose administration of ITI regimen, and therapeutic effect may be negatively correlated with MRD level before treatment.