Background: Both normal and malignant plasma cell (PC) populations can be identified using modern flow cytometry (FC) technique in multiple myeloma (MM) patients. Expression of CD19 and CD56 markers is heterogenous on bone marrow PCs of healthy individuals. Little is known about immunophenotypically aberrant (CD19−/CD56+) PCs subpopulation of healthy people.Methods: Using six color FC, we analyzed PCs in BM samples of 11 healthy donors (HD) and compared their immunophenotypic properties with clonal PC populations from MM patients.Results: Both immunophenotypically normal (CD19+/CD56−) and aberrant (CD19−/CD56+) PC populations could be detected in 10 of 11 HDs' BM samples and constituted the median of 60.3% (37.3–72.3) and 9.6% (0–35.7) of BM PCs, respectively. CD19, CD56, CD38, CD45, and CD20 marker expression characteristics were of little value discriminating clonal PCs of MM patients from immunophenotypically aberrant PCs of healthy donors.Conclusions: Our findings suggest that aberrant immunophenotype is common in BM PCs of healthy people. Improvements in FC methodology to separate normal and malignant PCs remain an open area for future investigations. © 2011 International Clinical Cytometry Society

(2018). ETV6 and NOTCH1 germline variants in adult acute leukemia. Leukemia & Lymphoma: Vol. 59, No. 4, pp. 1022-1024.

Childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) represents the largest group of pediatric malignancies with long-term survival rates of more than 80% achieved in developed countries. Epidemiological data and survival rates of childhood ALL in Lithuania were lacking. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze the population-based long-term treatment results of childhood ALL in Lithuania during 1992–2012.

Scarce data exist on double maintenance in transplant-eligible high-risk (HR) newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (NDMM) patients. This prospective phase 2 study enrolled 120 transplant-eligible NDMM patients. The treatment consisted of four cycles of ixazomib–lenalidomide–dexamethasone (IRD) induction plus autologous stem cell transplantation followed by IRD consolidation and cytogenetic risk-based maintenance therapy with lenalidomide + ixazomib (IR) for HR patients and lenalidomide (R) alone for NHR patients. The main endpoint of the study was undetectable minimal residual disease (MRD) with sensitivity of <10⁻⁵ by flow cytometry at any time, and other endpoints were progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). We present the preplanned analysis after the last patient has been two years on maintenance. At any time during protocol treatment, 28% (34/120) had MRD < 10⁻⁵ at least once. At two years on maintenance, 66% of the patients in the HR group and 76% in the NHR group were progression-free (p = 0.395) and 36% (43/120) were CR or better, of which 42% (18/43) had undetectable flow MRD <10⁻⁵. Altogether 95% of the patients with sustained MRD <10⁻⁵, 82% of the patients who turned MRD-positive, and 61% of those with positive MRD had no disease progression at two years on maintenance (p < 0.001). To conclude, prolonged maintenance with all-oral ixazomib plus lenalidomide might improve PFS in HR patients.