Background and Objectives: BTK and BCL2 inhibitors have changed the treatment paradigms of high-risk and elderly patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), but their long-term efficacy and toxicity are still unknown and the costs are considerable. Our previous data showed that Rituximab (Rtx) and high-dose methylprednisolone (HDMP) can be an effective and safe treatment option for relapsed high-risk CLL patients. Materials and Methods: We explored the efficacy and safety of a higher Rtx dose in combination with a shorter (3-day) schedule of HDMP in relapsed elderly or unfit CLL patients. Results: Twenty-five patients were included in the phase-two, single-arm trial. The median progression free survival (PFS) was 11 months (range 10–12). Median OS was 68 (range 47–89) months. Adverse events (AE) were mainly grade I–II° (77%) and no deaths occurred during the treatment period. Conclusions: 3-day HDMP and Rtx was associated with clinically meaningful improvement in most patients. The median PFS in 3-day and 5-day HDMP studies was similar and the toxicity of the 3-day HDMP schedule proved to be lower. The HDMP and Rtx combination can still be applied in some relapsed high-risk and elderly or unfit CLL patients if new targeted therapies are contraindicated or unavailable. (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01576588).

In the article titled “HDAC and HMT Inhibitors in Combination with Conventional Therapy: A Novel Treatment Option for Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia” [1], the last author was mistakenly linked to the second affiliation instead of the first. The corrected author list and affiliations are shown above.

Immune matching and rejection pose major hurdles in tissue transplantation. Here, we profile HLA-A , HLA-B , and HLA-C alleles in 3,496 Lithuanian donors genotyped at three-field resolution. The five most frequent alleles constitute 74.6% of HLA-A , 43.2% of HLA-B , and 59.2% of HLA-C , with HLA-A*02:01:01, HLA-B*07:02:01, and HLA-C*07:02:01 being the most common. Lithuanian allele frequencies closely resemble those of populations with pre-Neolithic hunter-gatherer ancestry, such as European-American and British groups. We identified 153 double homozygotes and 51 triple homozygotes for HLA-A , HLA-B , and HLA-C . Compatibility modeling showed triple homozygous profiles match 60.5% of Lithuanians (33.3% for double homozygotes), 13.4% of British population, and 7.4% of European-Americans. CRISPR-Cas9 guide RNA design yielded 54 candidates predicted to disrupt HLA-A or HLA-B , while preserving HLA-C , producing edited profiles matching over 98.1% of Lithuanians, 95.8% of European-Americans, and 95.6% of British population. Finally, we established 16 fibroblast lines from double and triple homozygotes, offering a resource for immune-compatibility studies and regenerative medicine applications.