Targeted immunotherapy is a mainstay for treatment of malignant neoplasms, autoimmune disease, and other disorders of immune dysregulation.^1-3 Although harnessing the immune system has changed the treatment landscape for many diseases, these therapies may bring with them risks and adverse secondary events.

The effectiveness of rotavirus vaccine in the field may set the stage for a changing landscape of diarrheal illness affecting children worldwide. Norovirus and rotavirus are the two major viral enteropathogens of childhood. This study describes the prevalence of norovirus and rotavirus 2 years after widespread rotavirus vaccination in Cochabamba, Bolivia. Stool samples from hospitalized children with acute gastroenteritis (AGE) and outpatients aged 5–24 months without AGE were recruited from an urban hospital serving Bolivia's third largest city. Both viruses were genotyped, and norovirus GII.4 was further sequenced. Norovirus was found much more frequently than rotavirus. Norovirus was detected in 69/201 (34.3%) of specimens from children with AGE and 13/71 (18.3%) of those without diarrhea. Rotavirus was detected in 38/201 (18.9%) of diarrheal specimens and 3/71 (4.2%) of non-diarrheal specimens. Norovirus GII was identified in 97.8% of norovirus-positive samples; GII.4 was the most common genotype (71.4% of typed specimens). Rotavirus G3P[8] was the most prevalent rotavirus genotype (44.0% of typed specimens) and G2P[4] was second most prevalent (16.0% of typed specimens). This community is likely part of a trend toward norovirus predominance over rotavirus in children after widespread vaccination against rotavirus.

The global experience with pediatric Kaposi sarcoma (KS) has evolved immensely since the onset of HIV (human immunodeficiency virus). In this review, current perspectives on childhood KS are discussed in the context of the HIV epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa. Endemic (HIV-unrelated) KS was first described over 50 years ago in central and eastern Africa, regions where human herpesvirus-8, the causative agent of KS, is endemic. With the alarming rise in HIV prevalence over the past few decades, KS has become not only the most common HIV-related malignancy in Africa, but also one of the most common overall childhood cancers throughout the central, eastern, and southern regions of the continent. The unique clinical features of pediatric KS that were described in those early endemic KS reports have been re-affirmed by the contemporary experience with HIV-related KS. These characteristics include a predilection for primary lymph node involvement, significant proportions of patients lacking prototypical cutaneous lesions, and the potential for fulminant disease progression. Other clinical features that distinguish childhood KS from adult disease include disease presentation with severe cytopenias, and the common occurrence of childhood KS without severe CD4 count suppression. Distinct clinical heterogeneity in disease presentation and treatment response have been demonstrated. Long-term complete remission and event-free survival can be achieved—especially in children with lymphadenopathic KS—utilizing treatment with antiretroviral therapy plus mild–moderate chemotherapy regimens that are well tolerated, even in low-income settings. A pediatric-specific staging classification and risk-stratification platform have been retrospectively validated, and may help guide therapeutic strategies. With expansion of the HIV treatment infrastructure throughout Africa, coupled with recent developments in establishing comprehensive pediatric oncology programs, there is great potential for improving outcomes for children with KS. Increased awareness of the unique clinical nuances and collaborative evaluations of pediatric-specific treatment paradigms are required to optimize survival for children with KS.

Black and Hispanic children with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) have worse outcomes compared with White children. AML is a heterogeneous disease with numerous genetic subtypes in which these disparities have not been specifically investigated. In this study, we used the Therapeutically Applicable Research to Generate Effective Treatments (TARGET) database to examine the association of race-ethnicity with leukemia cytogenetics, clinical features, and survival outcomes within major cytogenetic subgroups of pediatric AML. Compared with White non-Hispanic patients, t(8;21) AML was more prevalent among Black (odds ratio [OR], 2.22; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.28-3.74) and Hispanic patients (OR, 1.74; 95% CI, 1.05-2.83). The poor prognosis KMT2A rearrangement t(6;11)(q27;q23) was more prevalent among Black patients (OR, 6.12; 95% CI, 1.81-21.59). Among those with KMT2Ar AML, Black race was associated with inferior event-free survival (EFS) (hazard ratio [HR], 2.31; 95% CI, 1.41-3.79) and overall survival (OS) (HR, 2.54; 1.43-4.51). Hispanic patients with KMT2Ar AML also had inferior EFS (HR, 2.20; 95% CI, 1.27-3.80) and OS (HR, 2.07; 95% CI, 1.09-3.93). Similarly, among patients with t(8;21) or inv(16) AML (ie, core-binding factor [CBF] AML), Black patients had inferior outcomes (EFS HR, 1.93; 95% CI, 1.14-3.28 and OS HR, 3.24; 95% CI, 1.60-6.57). This disparity was not detected among patients receiving gemtuzumab ozogamicin (GO). In conclusion, racial-ethnic disparities in survival outcomes among young people with AML are prominent and vary across cytogenetic subclasses. Future studies should explore the socioeconomic and biologic determinants of these disparities.