Co-Designing Smartphone Notifications According to the Clinical Routine of Cancer Patients

Although smartphone-based notifications offer a promising tool to support patient engagement and data collection via mobile health apps, attention must be given to the burden caused by frequent notifications and notification timing. This study presents a personalized mobile notification scheme, designed and developed to optimize reachability, and thus data collection from patients. Engineers, psychologists, oncologists, and patients were involved in various stages of a co-design approach and the presented implementation is currently used in the context of a clinical study.

Risk factors for cardiovascular disease mortality in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes: A nationwide, registry‐based cohort study

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) emerges as a major cause of death in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), but predictors of fatal CVD and the effect of MDS‐specific treatments on CVD mortality remain largely unknown. In an analysis involving 831 patients with MDS with known causes of death, we noted an independent association of lower risk MDS, age >70 years, pre‐existing CVD, and treatment with erythropoiesis‐stimulating agents with a higher risk of death from CVD. If externally validated, these simple risk factors could increase clinicians’ awareness toward CVD complications and guide early introduction of intensive monitoring and preventive interventions in MDS patients.

Familial CD3+ T large granular lymphocyte leukemia: evidence that genetic predisposition and antigen selection promote clonal cytotoxic T-cell responses

CD3+ T-large granular lymphocyte (T-LGL) proliferations often present with cytopenias and splenomegaly and are linked to autoimmunity, especially rheumatoid arthritis and Felty's syndrome. We report here the intra-family occurrence of T-LGL leukemia in a father and son, both presenting with cytopenias and splenomegaly. Both patients carried the HLA-DRB1*04 allele, strongly associated with rheumatoid arthritis and Felty's syndrome, exhibited distinctive histopathological features suggestive of immune-mediated suppression of hematopoiesis and expressed a remarkably skewed T-cell receptor beta chain gene repertoire with overtime evolution (clonal drift). Immunoinformatics analysis and comparisons with clonotype sequences from various entities revealed (quasi)identities between (i) father and son, and (ii) father or son and patients with autoimmune disorders, T-LGL leukemia or chronic idiopathic neutropenia. Altogether, our results further corroborate antigen selection in the ontogeny of T-LGL leukemia and point to the interplay between genetics and the (micro)environment in shaping the outcome of cytotoxic T cell responses.

Effect of cA2 Anti–Tumor Necrosis Factor-α Antibody Therapy on Hematopoiesis of Patients with Myelodysplastic Syndromes

PURPOSE

Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) plays a prominent role in the pathophysiology of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). The aim of this study was to explore the biological and immunoregulatory effect of the treatment with the anti-tumor necrosis factor-alpha monoclonal antibody cA2 on bone marrow (BM) progenitor/precursor and stromal cells and lymphocyte subsets, as well as the clinical response in MDS patients.

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN

Ten low-intermediate risk MDS patients received i.v. cA2 (3 mg/kg) at weeks 0, 2, 6, and 12. The number, survival, and clonogenic potential of BM progenitor/precursor cells, the hematopoiesis-supporting capacity of BM stromal cells, and the lymphocyte activation status were investigated in the patients at baseline and following treatment using flow cytometry, clonogenic assays, and long-term BM cultures (LTBMC). Clinical response was evaluated according to standardized criteria.

RESULTS

cA2 administration reduced the proportion of apoptotic and Fas+ cells in the CD34+ cell compartment (P = 0.0215 and P = 0.0344, respectively) and increased the clonogenic potential of BM mononuclear and CD34+ cells (P = 0.0399 and P = 0.0304, respectively) compared with baseline. The antibody reduced tumor necrosis factor-alpha levels in LTBMC supernatants (P = 0.0043) and significantly improved the hematopoiesis-supporting capacity of LTBMC adherent cells. The proportion of activated peripheral blood and BM T-lymphocytes decreased significantly after treatment, suggesting an immunomodulatory effect of cA2. Two patients displayed minor hematologic responses whereas the remaining patients displayed stable disease with no disease progression.

CONCLUSIONS

The encouraging biological insights from cA2 administration may be useful in conducting further clinical trials using cA2 for selected MDS patients, particularly those with evidence of immune-mediated inhibition of hematopoiesis.

Normal bone marrow hematopoietic stem cell reserves and normal stromal cell function support the use of autologous stem cell transplantation in patients with multiple sclerosis

Bone marrow (BM) stem cell reserves and function and stromal cell hematopoiesis supporting capacity were evaluated in 15 patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and 61 normal controls using flow cytometry, clonogenic assays, long-term BM cultures (LTBMCs) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. MS patients displayed normal CD34+ cell numbers but a low frequency of colony-forming cells (CFCs) in both BM mononuclear and purified CD34+ cell fractions, compared to controls. Patients had increased proportions of activated BM CD3+/HLA-DR+ and CD3+/CD38+ T cells that correlated inversely with CFC numbers. Patient BM CD3+ T cells inhibited colony formation by normal CD34+ cells and patient CFC numbers increased significantly following immunomagnetic removal of T cells from BMMCs, suggesting that activated T cells may be involved in the defective clonogenic potential of hematopoietic progenitors. Patient BM stromal cells displayed normal hematopoiesis supporting capacity indicated by the CFC number in the nonadherent cell fraction of LTBMCs recharged with normal CD34+ cells. Culture supernatants displayed normal stromal derived factor-1 and stem cell factor/kit ligand but increased flt-3 ligand levels. These findings provide support for the use of autologous stem cell transplantation in MS patients. The low clonogenic potential of BM hematopoietic progenitors probably reflects the presence of activated T cells rather than an intrinsic defect.

High prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection and monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance in patients with chronic idiopathic neutropenia

The prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection was evaluated in 120 patients with chronic idiopathic neutropenia (CIN), 8 patients with monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) associated with CIN, and 74 age- and sex-matched normal volunteers, all derived from the same geographical area. The purpose of the study was to investigate the possible causal relationships of H. pylori infection with the development of MGUS in CIN patients. We found that the prevalence of H. pylori infection was elevated to 69.2% in the group of CIN patients, 100% in the group of patients with CIN-associated MGUS, and 32.4% in the group of control subjects. No statistically significant difference, however, was found in the prevalence of H. pylori infection between CIN patients with concomitant MGUS and CIN patients without MGUS, no resolution of the gammopathy after eradication of the bacterium, no significant rise in the titers of serum anti-H. pylori antibodies, and no formation of an abnormal precipitation line in immunoelectrophoresis using a saline extract of NCTC11367 H. pylori reference strain as antigen. We concluded that there is no evidence that H. pylori infection is the cause of MGUS in CIN patients.