Best Practice & Research Clinical Haematology最新文献

Hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) was developed more than 65 years ago to treat malignant blood disorders and irreversible bone marrow failures, with the aim of replacing a diseased hematopoietic system with a healthy one (allogeneic HCT). Decades later, the procedure was adapted to apply maximal chemotherapy or radiotherapy, which would result in bone marrow failure, but could be remedied by an infusion of a patient's own cryopreserved bone marrow (autologous HCT). Both treatments are high-risk and complex, especially during the initial phases. However, concerted efforts, vision, and collaboration between physicians and centers worldwide have resulted in HCT becoming a standard of care for many hematological disorders with progressive improvements in outcomes. Registries and the collaboration of societies worldwide have enabled the delivery of this curative therapy to many patients with fatal hematological diseases. More than 1.5 million HCT were performed between 1957 and 2019, and activity is continuously increasing worldwide.

Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (alloHCT) provides a potential curative treatment for haematological malignancies. The therapeutic Graft-versus-Leukaemia (GvL) effect is induced by donor T cells attacking patient hematopoietic (malignant) cells. However, if healthy non-hematopoietic tissues are targeted, Graft-versus-Disease (GvHD) may develop. After HLA-matched alloHCT, GvL and GvHD are induced by donor T cells recognizing polymorphic peptides presented by HLA on patient cells, so-called minor histocompatibility antigens (MiHAs). The balance between GvL and GvHD depends on the tissue distribution of MiHAs and T-cell frequencies targeting these MiHAs. T cells against broadly expressed MiHAs induce GvL and GvHD, whereas those targeting MiHAs with hematopoietic-restricted expression induce GvL without GvHD. Recently, the MiHA repertoire identified in natural immune responses after alloHCT was expanded to 159 total HLA-I-restricted MiHAs, including 14 hematopoietic-restricted MiHAs. This review explores their potential relevance to predict, monitor, and manipulate GvL and GvHD for improving clinical outcome after HLA-matched alloHCT.

Chronic myeloid leukemia is defined by the presence of the Philadelphia translocation t (9; 22) resulting in the BCR::ABL1 fusion. The other myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) subtypes also carry typical chromosomal abnormalities, which however are not pathognomonic for a specific entity of MPN. According to the WHO classification the distinction between these entities is still based on the integration of cytological, histopathological and molecular findings. Progression of CML into accelerated and blastic phase is usually driven by additional chromosome abnormalities and ABL1 kinase mutations. In the other MPN subtypes the additional mutations besides driver gene mutations in JAK2, MPL and CALR have a decisive impact on the propensity for progression. In addition, the sequence in which the driver mutations and risk conveying additional mutations have been acquired appears to play an important role. Here, we review cytogenetic and molecular changes in CML and MPN that should be evaluated during diagnosis and disease monitoring.

Biobanking provides benefit for future generations by facilitating medical research and subsequent translation and application of research findings. Long-term storage and research involving biological material and associated data necessitate the proper implementation of ethical and legal standards. A key principle includes recognizing informed consent as a crucial element for legitimizing the collection of biological material and data. Furthermore, any collected material and data must be employed exclusively for the research framework that aligns with the explicit consent provided by the participants. Last but not least, data privacy and security are essential in biobanking. This review elucidates chances and limitations of biobanking in the field of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation. We discuss the practical implementation of the requirements, illustrated by the Collaborative Biobank, a collaborative research platform for research in blood cancer.

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) transplantation is a curative therapy for many severe blood diseases. As many patients have no suitable family donor, large unrelated donor registries and donor centers have been established in many countries, along with an international system for the provision of unrelated donor HSC products. As an essential part of this system, DKMS operates donor centers in 7 countries with a total of 12.2 million donors and over 114,000 donations so far, and a multinational donor registry. In 2022, DKMS donors contributed 57.5% of all cross-border donations worldwide. In this review, we describe the international system for the provision of unrelated donor HSC products as well as tasks and responsibilities of donor registries and donor centers. We also discuss relevant aspects of DKMS donor centers, namely donor file composition, matching and donation probabilities and actual donations, and the unique multinational approach of the DKMS Registry.

Improvements made during the last decades in the management of patients with hematologic neoplasia have resulted in increase of overall survival. These advancements have become possible through progress in our understanding of genetic basis of different hematologic malignancies and their role in the current risk-adapted treatment protocols. In this review, we provide an overview of current cytogenetic and molecular genetic methods, commonly used in the genetic characterization of hematologic malignancies, describe the current developments in the cytogenetic and molecular diagnostics, and give an outlook into their future development. Furthermore, we give a brief overview of the most important public databases and guidelines for sequence variant interpretation.