Blood Podcast: Season 2, Episode 3
In this week’s episode, we will review a study that shows neutrophils are required for optimum recovery from acute lung injury in a murine model, examine the implication of germline genetic factors in the myeloproliferative neoplasm, polycythemia vera, and learn about the use of emicizumab for bleeding control in a small study of patients with acquired hemophilia A.
An epitope-based approach to use of HLA-matched platelets for transfusion: a noninferiority crossover randomized trial
Platelet refractoriness, which increases both adverse patient outcomes and health care expenses, is often caused by antibodies directed against HLA antigens. HLA-matched platelets may provide better platelet response but are expensive, require a large pool of donors, and may not yield fully matched platelets. In a prospective study reported in this month’s CME article, the authors found that HLA epitope–matched platelets based on short amino acid sequences within HLA molecules are noninferior to HLA-matched platelets, allow higher rates of successful matches, and require a smaller donor pool.
Factors associated with outcomes after a second CD19-targeted CAR T-cell infusion for refractory B-cell malignancies
CD19-targeted chimeric antigen receptor (CD19 CAR) T cells have efficacy for relapsed/refractory B-cell malignancies, but relapses occur in a high percentage of patients. Gauthier et al report that second CAR T-cell infusions are possible and lead to responses in about 40% of patients, with over 20% complete remissions. The authors further identify factors associated with better responses.
SLFN11 promotes stalled fork degradation that underlies the phenotype in Fanconi anemia cells
Fanconi anemia (FA) is a DNA repair disorder associated with sensitivity to interstrand cross-linking agents such as mitomycin C. FA proteins promote cross-link repair, but they also protect stalled replication forks generated by stress replication. Okamoto and colleagues demonstrate that in the absence of FA proteins, the DNA/RNA helicase SLFN11 promotes nuclease destruction at replication forks and SLFN11 knockdown reduces fork degradation and improves cell survival of FANCD2 knockout cells.
Burkitt lymphoma in the modern era: real-world outcomes and prognostication across 30 US cancer centers
Burkitt lymphoma (BL) is an aggressive disease with excellent survival reported in small prospective series using current chemo- immunotherapy. Evens et al report real-world experience with BL in a study of 641 adult patients from 30 US cancer centers, demonstrating progression-free and overall survival inferior to those reported in clinical trials and identifying risk factors for adverse outcomes.
Neutrophils promote clearance of nuclear debris following acid-induced lung injury
Neutrophils traditionally have been viewed as a source of collateral damage in the setting of inflammation. Oved et al add to the growing evidence that they also have an important role in tissue healing. They demonstrate that neutrophils acquire a MyD88- dependent ability to phagocytose and degrade extracellular DNA, limiting tissue injury at the site of sterile inflammation.
