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SummaryEvaluation of the Janus kinase 2 (JAK2) V617F mutation has been widely used for the diagnosis of myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN). However, its prognostic relevance to clinical outcome is not completely understood. We investigated the association of JAK2 V617F with vascular events in Korean patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN). We studied 283 patients from 15 centers, who were diagnosed with MPN. The JAK2 V617F status was evaluated by allele-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sequencing. The patients’ diagnoses were essential thrombocythemia (ET n=146), polycythemia vera (PV n=120), primary myelofibrosis (n=12), and unclassifiable MPN (MPNu n=5). JAK2 V617F was detected in 89 (61%) patients with ET, 103 (86%) with PV, four (33%) with myelofibrosis, and four (80%) with MPNu. A higher number of leukocytes, haemoglobin levels and BM cellularity as well as an older age, lower platelet counts, and diagnosis of PV were significantly correlated with JAK2 V617F. Eighty-three and 43 episodes of thrombosis and bleeding occurred in 100 patients each before and after the diagnosis. Vascular events more frequently occurred in 37% of patients with JAK2 V617F than in 29% of those without the mutation (p=0.045). Among 175 patients whose samples were available for sequencing, 28 patients with homozygous JAK2 V617F had vascular events more frequently (57%) than those who were heterozygotes (39%) or had the wild type (27%) (p=0.03). The multivariate analysis showed that a JAK2 homozygous mutation, hypercholesterolemia and older age were independent risk factors for a vascular event. The results of this study showed that Korean patients with MPN had a similar JAK2 mutation rate and frequency of vascular events when compared to Western patients. The presence of V617F was significantly related to vascular events. Therefore, initial evaluation for the JAK2 mutation and careful monitoring for vascular events should be performed in MPN patients.

BackgroundWe investigated the clinical features and treatment outcomes of patients with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) in Korea.MethodsWe retrospectively analyzed the clinical characteristics and prognosis of 131 patients diagnosed with MCL between January 2004 and December 2009 at 15 medical centers in Korea; all patients received at least 1 chemotherapeutic regimen for MCL.ResultsThe median age for the patients was 63 years (range, 26-78 years), and 77.9% were men. A total of 105 patients (80.1%) had stage III or IV MCL at diagnosis. Fifty-two patients (39.7%) were categorized with high- or high-intermediate risk MCL according to the International Prognostic Index (IPI). Eighteen patients (13.7%) were in the high-risk group according to the simplified MCL-IPI (MIPI). The overall incidence of extranodal involvement was 69.5%. The overall incidence of bone marrow and gastrointestinal involvements at diagnosis was 41.2% and 35.1%, respectively. Cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, prednisolone, and rituximab were used frequently as the first-line treatment (41.2%). With a median follow-up duration of 20.0 months (range, 0.2-77.0 months), the overall survival (OS) at 2 years was 64.7%, while the event-free survival (EFS) was 39.7%. Multivariate analysis showed that the simplified MIPI was significantly associated with OS. However, the use of a rituximab-containing regimen was not associated with OS and EFS.ConclusionSimilar to results from Western countries, the current study found that simplified MIPI was an important prognostic factor in Korean patients with MCL.

We performed a phase II trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the modified fludarabine, cytarabine, and attenuated-dose idarubicin (m-FLAI) regimen in elderly acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients. Elderly (60 years) AML patients who had not previously received chemotherapy were enrolled in the study. Patients received two consecutive cycles of m-FLAI chemotherapy as an induction. The m-FLAI regimen comprised fludarabine (25 mg/m 2 , days 1-4), cytarabine (1,000 mg/m 2 , days 1-4), and attenuated-dose idarubicin (5 mg/ m 2 , days 1-3). The primary end point was complete remission (CR) rate. Secondary end points were overall survival (OS), event-free survival (EFS), and treatment-related mortality (TRM). There were 108 patients (median age 68.4 years, M:F 5 64:44) enrolled in the study. CR was achieved in 56.5% of patients, and the TRM rate was 21.3%. Median OS and median EFS were 10.2 and 6.6 months, respectively. The mortality at 30 and 60 days was 15 and 21%, respectively. Performance status and comorbidity did not have prognostic value in this patient cohort. Bone marrow expression of CD117 was associated with increased EFS and OS. m-FLAI is an effective induction regimen for previously untreated AML in elderly patients. In addition, bone-marrow CD117 expression is an independent favorable prognostic factor in elderly AML patients. (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01247493). Am. J. Hematol. 88:10-15, 2013. V

Background: The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is an independent prognostic marker in solid and hematological cancers. While the derived NLR (dNLR) was shown to be non-inferior to the NLR in large cohorts of patients with different cancer types, it has not been validated as a prognostic marker for multiple myeloma (MM) to date. Methods: Between May 22, 2011 and May 29, 2014, 176 patients with MM from 38 centers who were ineligible for autologous stem cell transplantation were analyzed. The dNLR was calculated using complete blood count differential data. The optimal dNLR cut-off value according to receiver operating characteristic analysis of overall survival (OS) was 1.51. All patients were treated with melphalan and prednisone combined with bortezomib. Results: The complete response rate was lower in the high dNLR group compared to the low dNLR group (7 vs. 26.1%, respectively; p = 0.0148); the corresponding 2-year OS rates were 72.2 and 84.7%, respectively (p = 0.0354). A high dNLR was an independent poor prognostic factor for OS (hazard ratio 2.217, 95% CI 1.015–4.842; p = 0.0458). Conclusion: The dNLR is a readily available and cheaply obtained parameter in clinical studies, and shows considerable potential as a new prognostic marker for transplantation-ineligible patients with MM.