Chronic eosinophilic leukemia-not otherwise specified (CEL-NOS) is a rare disorder with hypereosinophilia and an increased number of blood or marrow blast (<20%) or an evidence of eosinophil clonality. We evaluated the clinical outcome of 10 patients with CEL-NOS. Seven males and three females at a median age of 62 years (range, 23-73) were included. The median leukocyte count at diagnosis was 33.4 3 10 9 /l (range, 9.3-175.0) with a median eosinophil count of 15.6 3 10 9 /l (range, 1.5-136.0). Median hemoglobin and platelets were 11.0 g/dl (range, 8.3-13.3) and 158 3 10 9 /l (range, 31.0-891.0), respectively. Clinical manifestations included splenomegaly (n 5 7), hepatomegaly (n 5 6), cardiac failure (n 5 2), and lung infiltrations (n 5 1). Median survival from diagnosis to death for entire cohort was 22.2 months (range, 2.2-186.2). Five of the 10 studied patients developed acute transformation (AT) after median of 20 months from diagnosis (range, 1.6-41.9). None of patients with AT is alive at the time of last follow-up. Median time from AT to death was 2 months (range, 1.0-6.1). Among five patients who did not develop AT, three died in active disease. Two patients are alive in complete remission; first underwent allogeneic stem-cell transplantation preceding by intensive induction chemotherapy; the second remains on imatinib with hydroxyurea. Except the latter patient, imatinib was ineffective in our study population. CEL-NOS is a rare and aggressive disease with high rate of AT and resistance to conventional treatment.Chronic eosinophilic leukemia-not otherwise specified (CEL-NOS) is a rare Philadelphia-negative myeloproliferative neoplasm, which is due to clonal proliferation of eosinophil precursors. Peripheral blood hypereosinophilia (>1.5 3 10 9 /l), an increased number of myeloblasts in blood or marrow (<20%) or an evidence of eosinophil clonality, are required for diagnosis. The cases of myeloid and lymphoid neoplasms with abnormalities of platelet-derived growth factor alpha (PDGFRA), platelet-derived growth factor beta (PDGFRB), and fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 (FGFR1) must be also excluded [1]. In a new WHO classification, CEL-NOS is listed in the category of myeloproliferative neoplasms [2], whereas it was incorporated under the heading of myeloproliferative forms of hypereosinophilic syndromes according to the classification of the Eosinophilic Working Group [3]. Regardless of the classification used, CEL-NOS remains an extremely rare entity with variable prognosis [1,4]. The efficacy of currently used therapeutic agents is limited, and the hematological responses are usually short-lived [5].Ten patients (seven males and three females) at a median age of 62 years (range, 23-73) were included in this study. The median leukocyte count at diagnosis was 33.4 3 10 9 /l with a median eosinophil count of 15.6 3 10 9 /l. Blood smear was dominated by mature eosinophils with a small number of younger forms, for example, eosinophilic myelocytes and promyelocytes. Single eosinophils had dysplastic fe...

High-grade serous ovarian carcinoma (HGSOC) is the most frequent histological type of ovarian cancer and the one with worst prognosis. Unfortunately, the majority of established ovarian cancer cell lines which are used in the research have unclear histological origin and probably do not represent HGSOC. Thus, new and reliable models of HGSOC are needed. Ascitic fluid from a patient with recurrent HGSOC was used to establish a stable cancer cell line. Cells were characterized by cytogenetic karyotyping and short tandem repeat (STR) profiling. New generation sequencing was applied to test for hot-spot mutations in 50 cancer-associated genes and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis was used to check for TP53 status. Cells were analyzed for expression of several marker genes/proteins by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS), and immunocytochemistry (ICC). Functional tests were performed to compare OVPA8 cells with five commercially available and frequently used ovarian cancer cell lines: SKOV3, A2780, OVCAR3, ES2, and OAW42. Our newly-established OVPA8 cell line shows morphologic and genetic features consistent with HGSOC, such as epithelial morphology, multiple chromosomal aberrations, TP53 mutation, BRCA1 mutation, and loss of one copy of BRCA2. The OVPA8 line has a stable STR profile. Cells are positive for EpCAM, CK19, and CD44; they have relatively low plating efficiency/ability to form spheroids, a low migration rate, and intermediate invasiveness in matrigel, as compared to other ovarian cancer lines. OVPA8 is sensitive to paclitaxel and resistant to cisplatin. We also tested two FGFR inhibitors; OVPA8 cells were resistant to AZD4547 (AstraZeneca, London, UK), but sensitive to the new inhibitor CPL304-110-01 (Celon Pharma, Łomianki/Kiełpin, Poland). We have established and characterized a novel cell line, OVPA8, which can be a valuable preclinical model for studies on high-grade serous ovarian cancer.

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Aim of the studyMutant NPM1 and CEBPA have been reported in patients with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) and intermediate cytogenetic risk, and they appear to be associated with characteristic demographic and laboratory data, as well as clinical outcome. The objective of the study was to assess the clinical relevance of NPM1 and CEBPA mutations in AML.Material and methodsThis retrospective analysis was based on 60 newly diagnosed patients with AML and normal/no metaphases karyotype and known mutation status, who were treated in our centre between 2008 and 2011 according to the PALG (Polish Adult Leukaemia Group) study protocol. Pretreatment bone marrow samples were studied by G-banding analysis, and NPM1, CEBPA, and FLT3-ITD mutations were detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR).ResultsNPM1 mutations were detected in 21 AML patients (35%). In the NPM1-positive subgroup, the FLT3-ITD mutation was observed in 3 cases (14%), which was significantly less frequent than in the NPM1-negative patients, where FLT3-ITD was detected in 16 cases (41%; p = 0.04). Among the CEBPA-positive population (n = 11; 18%), none of the studied patients had FLT3-ITD mutation, whereas it was detected in 19 CEBPA-negative patients (0% vs. 38%; p = 0.01). The highest complete remission rate was reported for the NPM1-positive/FLT3-ITD-negative group (n = 18; 88%) and the CEBPA-positive/FLT3-ITD-negative group (n = 8; 73%). For OS, multivariable analysis revealed NPM1-positive/FLT3-ITD-negative (HR: 0.18, 95% CI: 0.19–0.63) and CEBPA-positive/FLT3-ITD-negative (HR: 0.35, 95% CI: 0.19–0.63) as favourable prognostic factors. The presence of the NPM1-negative/FLT3-ITD-positivecombination predicted adverse overall survival (HR: 2.03, 95% CI: 1.13–3.66).ConclusionsNPM1 and CEBPA mutations are associated with clinical outcome in AML patients.

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